


The River In Reverse

by SirChiefDoodle



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Billionaire Dany, Billionaire Jon, Don't Like Don't Read, F/F, F/M, Homecoming, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen Are Not Related, M/M, Multi, N plus A equals J, Old Wounds, Past Abuse, Power Couple, Rich Tycoons, Self Made Billionares, Smut, Snootiness, Some OOC, They are rich so they flex and flaunt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 74,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25243204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirChiefDoodle/pseuds/SirChiefDoodle
Summary: Jon and Dany have it all. The two of them are the youngest self made billionaires in the history of Westeros. Together they have built an empire and a family that they have nurtured for themselves.But what happens when situations arise and the toxic families that they have cut off from their happily married life start coming to pass and they have to face their past?
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Comments: 170
Kudos: 404





	1. Death At A Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, Doodle here with a new story that I am excited to write and one that I hope you will enjoy.
> 
> This is the first time I am writing a modern AU but I really loved the premise when my friend Kayla presented it to me. In this story Westeros is a continent, just like Essos. The Seven Kingdoms are countries and those countries have Presidents and the country that Jon and Dany reside in is the "Crownlands"
> 
> Since it's a modern AU, modern things apply. So don't freak out when labels and random things are name dropped. Labels are mentioned a lot here.
> 
> So if none of that is to your liking then keep it stepping.
> 
> Anyways let me know what you think.

****

_“I’m not a ‘businessman,’ I’m a “Business” man. Let me handle my business damn” – Shawn Carter_

**Jon**

The ale warmed him up as he put down the magazine from the photo-shoot they did a while back.

Perhaps that was a positive for coming back to the North.

There wasn’t a place that he hated more than Winterfell itself but the bar he sat in did hold fond memories.

He took a sip of the beer that he hadn’t tasted for over ten years now and he remarked at the bitter taste and the filling sting that the lager had, the warmth that it enveloped.

The pub in itself was moderately busy, no more than usual but Jon didn’t recognize any familiar face from his high school days.

The entire place felt bittersweet and truth be told, Jon wanted to bolt and leave this place behind and never look back.

But he had to come back for his Uncle. It’s the least that Benjen deserved.

The buzz of his phone brought him out of his musings.

Today had been a terrible day but when he saw her name pop up on screen, he smiled.

‘Hey’ he said once he swiped right to accept the call.

‘Hey babe’ Dany replied softly, her voice cognizant of the fact that the morning when he took his flight from Kings Landing it had been a very somber occasion. ‘How you holding up?’

Jon sighed sadly.

‘The tears have stopped, believe it or not even if you own a private jet, it’s still quite embarrassing to cry in it’ he joked.

His wife let out a laugh and he felt the need to hold her.

‘I wish I could have come with you this morning’ she replied. ‘Today is not the day you need to be alone.’

Jon waved it off; he knew how important the IPO expansion had been for her.

‘It’s fine Dany, I am just sad that I didn’t get to see you buyout Loraq. At least tell me he cried when you told him that we own him now?’ Jon asked her.

He didn’t need to be with her to know that she was smiling.

‘Practically fell on his knees and begged me not to fire him’ her chuckle was restrained and he knew there was something she wasn’t telling him.

The waitress came to ask if he needed anything else but he shook his head and asked for the bill.

‘How are the girls?’ he asked her.

Not that he needed to ask, he could hear them playing in the background.

‘Their fine, we will be there before the evening strikes. I would have left sooner but something came up’ she said.

‘Is something the matter? Is it Tyrion because I swear to the old gods and the new that if he brought up the idea of us taking over his father’s company again then he can pack his shit’ Jon stated.

The waitress had come back with the bill but Jon had halted her and put a hundred dollar bill for his two dollar ale.

The girl serving him looked at him in shock but he winked(though he was bad at it) and mouthed that she keep the change.

‘It’s not that Jon, Jorah picked up my mother yesterday, I put her in a suite in Pentos’ Dany replied quietly.

Jon paused in whatever he was doing and he seemed to freeze.

‘Holy Shit!’ was all he could mutter.

‘That was my reaction, her release was this week and I had told Jorah to only tell me when she was out’ Dany explained.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked her. He knew that Dany hadn’t spoken with her family in over sometime, something he had in common with her.

‘I will be fine, I assume she wants to catch up but I told her that I would see her after the funeral’ Dany replied.

Jon let out a sigh.

‘Looks like this coming week will be big for both of us’ he replied.

Dany let out a low chuckle.

‘We will see you tonight babe’ she said and blew him kiss. Jon kissed the phone back before hanging up.

He put on his coat and made his way to leave but someone called out his name.

‘Johnny?’ he heard that familiar voice.

He turned around with a smile to see an old friend.

‘Ed?’ he asked with a bright grin.

He rushed over to the table that Ed was sitting at and enveloped him in a hug.

He took in his friend who was striped in the NWPD uniform.

‘Or should I say Deputy Dolores’ he attested the badge of the Nights Watch police force. ‘How in the seven hells are ya?’

Ed shrugged his hair, still as long as it was back then though Jon could see that he was gaining a receding hairline.

‘Can’t complain, actually I can. Working at the 46th precinct of Winterfell is not fun’ Ed replied.

Jon chuckled as he realized how his buddy was still the man he knew from high school.

‘Still the same old grump I see’ Jon teased.

Ed smiled which was a rarity from the man Jon once knew.

‘And you’re still a sharp pain in the arse, though things have changed I see. Tom Ford jacket and a thousand dollar haircut’ Ed stated.

Jon did his best not to chuff in front of his friend’s mocking.

‘I knew you were a cop but I didn’t realize you were part of the fashion police’ he said, it was a lame joke and Ed rolled his eyes. It was a breath of fresh air to have someone not fake laugh at a joke they didn’t find funny because they were trying to impress you.

His phone buzzed and he saw that he had a meeting with his realtor in ten minutes.

‘Look Ed I have to go I have a thing…’ Ed finished for him, seemingly already knowing.

‘Oh I heard, I am actually part of the patrol honoring Lt Benjen Stark, sorry about him, he was always nice to us when we were in high school and he helped me settle in my job’ Ed said sadly.

Jon had mastered his sad smile and nodded in reverence.

‘He was a good man’ Jon stated. ‘But we should catch up sometime, you me, Grenn and Pyp. I lost your numbers and I couldn’t stay in touch.’

Ed nodded in understanding.

‘I know ever since that business with your father, have you seen him yet or any of your siblings?’ Ed asked.

Jon shook his head.

‘I thought I would avoid the drama of the Constance Honorable Judge Eddard Stark’ Jon stated though he couldn’t hide the grimace and disdain in his face.

‘It’s actually Senator Ned Stark, you do realize your father is the mayor?’ Ed questioned him.

His phone buzzed again and this time it was his realtor. He sighed apologetically

He quickly took Ed’s number before patting him on the back and telling him it was good to see him.

Jon entered his car and told the driver to hightail it to the house he had his eye on.

Jon had barely paid attention as the realtor mumbled on about the house.

Tyrion had called him to discuss a potential venture that could boost their margin by five percent in the stainless steel market and Jon had made sure that he patents the brand before other firms scoop them up. His mind was in too many places at once even though he wanted to focus on Benjen.

Though as he walked around the house he marveled at its beauty, a twelve bedroom mansion with heated floors and two indoor pools.

‘…It’s the most expensive house in the Northern Republic’ she said before gesturing to a view that showed a snowy hilltop.

It wasn’t winter yet but there were slight snows from time to time.

‘I will take it’ he said.

The realtor smiled and brought her paperwork forward.

‘If you don’t mind me asking Mr. Snow, why are you buying such a lavish house when you have no intention of staying here?’ she asked.

Jon was simultaneously viewing the contract that put the deed in his and Dany’s name.

‘My wife and I have a habit of buying houses in every country we visit. I would expect a Tyrell to understand the boons of real estate’ he said as he signed the papers before turning to her. ‘I mean after all you bought this place in the morning when you heard of my uncle’s demise and now you are selling the most expensive house in the North at twice the price.’

The realtor looked startled at his revelation which played on his suspicion.

‘How did you know?’ the realtor asked.

Jon shrugged.

‘Your grandmother loaned us her building when we started up and I saw a picture of you, Margaery right?’ he asked.

She nodded with a smile.

‘The rumors they say about you are true, you are sharp’ she replied.

‘What else do the rumors say?’ he asked out of curiosity.

She looked churlish but gathered herself.

‘They say you are the second youngest billionaire in Westerosi history’ she answered.

Jon smiled.

‘Well my wife is a year younger than I am’ he replied begrudgingly. ‘Something my wife always wants to remind me of.’

Margaery laughed, a real laugh not the fake smile she had plastered on the whole day.

‘They say that you met your wife at Oldtown University, that the two of you had a scholarship for finance and that the both of you worked for Stannis Baratheon before you stole his company’ she stated.

Jon rolled his eyes.

‘We didn’t steal his firm, Ours Is The Fury was a multimillion dollar company when we joined and yes he did give us his shares but he did that because he was on trial for murder, for which he was guilty and he needed someone to cover his family. We changed the name and made the company one of the largest firms in all of Planetos’ he said. ‘Stannis gave Dany and I our first start in the corporate world.’

Margaery nodded attentively.

‘Any more questions?’ he asked as he sat down on a white couch.

Margaery smiled as she poured herself a glass of water from the glass bottle placed on the counter.

‘You grew up around here?’ she asked him.

Jon nodded whilst he was idly replying to his assistant Sam who he entrusted to look over portfolios in his absence.

‘I went to high school here at Winterfell High. My father was a judge back then, before he became senator and governor and now Mayor of the largest City in the North’ he stated.

There was a look of recognition.

‘Ned Stark?’ she asked.

Jon nodded.

‘He was on the co-op board when we signed off on buying the house’ she said.

Jon didn’t really want to speak about his father, not trusting the negativity that would spew from his mouth.

‘Well my family on my father’s side are one of the oldest residents in the North and naturally they appear on the Winterfell City Council. I presume my father is still part of that council. What with him being mayor and all.’

It used to be a source of pride, how the honorable Judge Eddard Stark ruled court and was a councilman not only for the City of Winterfell but the entire Northern Republic. Of the great history of his family, how his grandfather was mayor and could have ended up being president.

‘And you were never interested in politics?’ Margaery asked.

Jon smiled.

‘Left that to the trueborn children in my family’

He bid Margaery goodbye later and told her to give Olenna his love. When they had begun their expansion and startup, she had been more than generous in the leeway for their loan.

Margaery told him she would be in the North for a while and that he shouldn’t hesitate to call.

Dany had arrived with his two angels. Alysanne and Elizabeth, his two twin daughters who would be turning four in a few weeks from now.

Both of his children were mini Dany’s despite the fact that they inherited his eyes.

Very soon he would have to start sending them to pre-K and the thought scared him because for so long they were his little babies but now they seemed to be doing things independently.

He initially wanted them to stay behind and miss the Stark family drama but Uncle Benjen had made a concerted effort to get to know them and act as the grand paternal figure that his father wasn’t.

It was bad enough that his own mother, Ashara, couldn’t attend and she was friendly with his uncle.

‘Penny for your thoughts’ Dany said as she watched him pack the new dishes that Margaery had placed in the house.

‘I am not in the mood to go to the funeral tomorrow’ he said.

Dany hummed and put her face on to his chest.

‘I know you and your family have a lot of bad blood’ she said.

Jon snorted at the understatement.

Jon had six half siblings.

Five from his father’s side and one from his mother.

Of his six siblings he was only close with two.

Allyria and Arya.

It was easy with Allyria because she was his little sister from after their mom got married to a decent man.

The two of them got close when he fell out with his Stark family as soon as he graduated high school.

Arya was another one as well and she had been the only sibling to keep contact with him and made a concerted effort to talk to him.

‘I guess we shall see tomorrow’ he said.

Dany rubbed his chest.

‘Try and keep it together and be the bigger person, for Benjen at least.’

Jon nodded.

‘Daddy! Daddy!’ two shouts came from upstairs. He smiled at Dany at his little girls wanting a bed time story.

The morning of the funeral arrived and Jon made to put on his press tailored suit. Personally tailored for him by Alexander Wang.

Not that anyone would be able to tell because it was a black and white suit. Though the black Rolex crusted with black ice would certainly garner attention.

Jon knew he shouldn’t be thinking this way but a petty part of him wanted to flaunt in front of his family and make them see how far he had come.

His therapist would probably tell him that he was using childhood events to fuel his actions and not focus on mourning his departed uncle.

So much was true, he was human after all.

So he had compromised, instead of arriving in a chopper and landing in front of the Stark family crypt, he would arrive in a simple custom Mercedes from the limo company. Respectable and classy.

Dany was on to him though she didn’t say anything and instead instructed the girls to be on their best behavior on their car ride there.

They arrived at the Stark manor in due time to see cars parking inside the driveway.

Dany gave him a patronizing whistle as their driver parked.

‘Nice house’ she said with a patronizing tone hiding her smirk.

‘What are you implying?’ he asked her.

She shook her head with a smile.

‘In our Forbes interview you told them you came from humble beginnings. This isn’t exactly what you would consider poor, not rich but wealthy enough to be extremely comfortable’ she said with a raised brow.

Jon smiled.

‘I never said I was poor and that reporter confused humble beginnings with me being humble. There’s a difference’ he corrected.

‘Uh huh’ Dany said.

Alysanne, who was playing a game on her pad, showed him that she had beaten her high score on that baby game of hers. Dany had been averse to getting the contraptions for them but they had seen that it was an easy way for them to learn analytical skills at their young age.

The car parked at the end of the driveway and Jon gave the driver clear instructions to not leave because he didn’t want to be hear any minute longer than he had to.

He stepped out of the car and ushered his little girls and held out his hand for Dany.

It had only been two minutes but he could already see people whispering and staring at them through his sunglasses.

Jon didn’t care and he walked inside the house with his hand behind Dany’s back as she held the hand of their little girls.

The service wasn’t long but it was sad and to see his Uncle’s friends give their testimonials to what a good man he was, was incredibly heartbreaking.

His father had even said some words and Jon was surprised to see the sadness on the most emotionless man he had ever known, though he had lost his little brother so it was somewhat understandable.

Jon had made out his siblings sitting in front with Catelyn and he bit the inside of his cheek knowing that the woman had never liked his uncle that much when he was staying in Winterfell. Mostly because Uncle Benjen had favored him quite a bit.

As soon as the service was done, Jon made sure to go greet Ed who had arrived with his wife. He introduced Dany to the comely woman.

‘Blink twice if he is holding you hostage’ he said to Mrs. Tollet who laughed loudly.

‘Alright, I know he is pretty but calm down’ Ed replied and that made the rest of them giggle.

Jon was briefly interrupted in his chat to Ed when Governor Roose Bolton came to give his condolences before asking him if they could meet up sometime. He nodded unsurely, not really knowing why the Mayor of Dredfort would want to convene with him before he continued chatting with Ed.

They went on to talk about what a beautiful service it was before he heard someone call his name.

‘Jon!’ he heard her voice.

He didn’t need to turn to know Arya was rushing towards him.

He smiled when she landed in his arms. She hugged him tightly before punching him in the ribs.

‘That’s for not visiting me when you arrived you ass’ she said, whilst her eyes were sizing up Ally and Lizzie who were silent, mainly due to the fact that everyone here was a stranger.

Arya had been the one to constantly visit him, not even Catelyn could keep his little sister away even though she had succeeded with the others.

She had been ten when he left Winterfell and Arya had claimed that the moment she turned eighteen she would leave and join him in the Crownlands.

Dany and Arya hugged, the last time they had seen each other was when Dany gave birth to the twins. Arya never much interacted with his girls because when she would visit on the school holidays, the girls would be with his mother or with Allyria in Starfall.

‘Who are these cuties?’ Arya asked in a sweet voice. Jon ushered the girls forward and Arya proceeded to greet them.

Throughout the conversation Jon had noticed that various people where eyeing them.

‘You’re quite the intrigue Jon Snow’ Dany whispered whilst Ally was showing her Aunt Arya how she could count.

‘I am the bastard son of their favorite and honorable councilman that hasn’t set foot on Northern soil for eight years and I have come back a billionaire’ Jon whispered back acknowledging Dany’s intuition.

Arya turned to him.

‘Are you guys going to stay for lunch, I would like to show the girls where you grew up’ Arya asked him.

Jon shared a hesitant look with Dany.

‘Yeah we’re not in the mood for drama, just here to pay our respects’ he replied.

Arya nodded sadly and Jon felt a sage of guilt.

‘But I am here for the weekend and you will be going to Kings Landing University soon. That means you will be right around the block, I will be able to take care of you and spoil you like I promised’ that seemed to lift her out of her spirits.

They faked pleasantries for a couple of more minutes. Some he recognized as a child and some he didn’t.

President Manderly had even made an appearance and was chatting to Northern constituents about the coming elections at year end.

Dany and his girls had followed Arya to give them a tour.

Jon was ready to call it a day despite it being 11am and was about to head to the car and wait for Dany there but a voice halted him.

‘Jon!’ he heard.

This time excitement didn’t fill him the way it had when he heard Arya’s voice, only spite and semblance of anger washed over him.

‘Constance Honorable’ he said with a reverent nod to Judge Eddard Stark or Mayor as he was known around these parts.

The man had aged decently but he still had that stern and solemn face.

His features slightly creased when Jon addressed him formally, something that surprised Jon because formality was something his father always instilled when he was young.

‘I am glad you made it to the funeral’ his father stated.

Jon looked to the side and he was actually proud of how calm he had kept himself.

‘Uncle Benjen would have been happy to see the turnout. He deserved nothing less’ he replied.

In the background he noticed the golden boy walking towards them. Robb had always been handsome and he seemed to have grown into his features. Though the once proud and arrogant smile was gone and he looked a man grown.

Though his lackey Theon looked exactly the same.

‘How is your mother?’ his father asked.

Jon clenched his teeth and took a breath.

‘Can we not do that’ Jon said quickly whilst nodding his head, to indicate his displeasure. ‘It’s Uncle Benjen’s funeral, your peers are here and I do not want to cause a scene, so let’s not do that.’

His father nodded sadly.

‘Look Jon, I have done many things I regret and our relationship is one of them’ his father replied. ‘I would like to right that wrong.’

Jon was about to reply but his little girls rushed to him and hugged him before he could give him a sharp response.

‘Daddy’ Lizzie claimed excitedly and she pointed to Dany who was coming out with Arya and surprisingly Sansa who was chatting with Alysanne.

Dany had an a apologetic look on her face and Arya had a sneaky one.

‘Daddy, mommy agreed to host Aunt Arya and her family on Sunday’ Jon turned his head to Dany in surprise whilst schooling his features.

Dany got closer to him with a guilty smile.

‘It was Arya’s idea and the girls jumped with glee wanting to know your side of the family’ Dany replied.

Jon shot Arya a glance and she seemed to be looking elsewhere.

Robb and Theon seemed to be keeping their distance. Ally had moved away from Sansa and came to him but her eyes were darting between Ned and him.

‘You look like my father, your hair is different though’ Ally stated in a sweet and curious childish voice whilst looking at Ned. Father smiled kindly whilst shaking the little girl’s hand in introduction.

‘Well I am his father, you look like him as well but your hair is different’ he said in the kindest tone that Jon had ever heard.

Their Mercedes pulled up by the yard and Jon silently thanked the Gods because he really wanted to leave.

‘So Sunday?’ his father asked.

Jon gritted his teeth but gave him a bashful smile.

‘Sunday it is’ he replied.

Their tense stare was interrupted when he heard a voice he despised the most.

Catelyn gave him a once over, her face still as cold as he remembered.

Jon instinctively took Ally away from Ned as she approached. Lizzie remained near her mother mumbling something or the other.

‘Jon’ Catelyn said curtly.

Her voice seemed passive. She had aged gracefully, not looking withered or beaten down.

Perhaps his imagination and what he thought of her had turned to her becoming over exaggerated in his mind as to how he perceived her. Or so his therapist would say.

Catelyn was holding a stack of magazines and Jon remembered how fond of them she used to be. He remembered a mother’s day when he bought her the latest issue of Cosmopolitan and Forbes only for him to find them in the trash the next day.

‘Catelyn’ was all he said.

He felt Ally shuffle underneath him.

‘Will you be staying for lunch?’ her tone sounded accusatory, like he clubbed baby seals for a living.

Jon shook his head in response and he could hear Ally waving goodbye to his other family members.

‘No I don’t think I will’ he said evenly.

Catelyn smiled before she felt Ned put his hand behind her back perhaps fearing that if they conversed for any second longer that they will end up in a screaming match that would embarrass him.

He heard a car door opening and he saw the driver letting Dany and the girls in.

‘It’s a pity that you aren’t staying longer, we haven’t seen much of you lately’ she said. Her tone may have seemed sincere but he knew Catelyn better than that and he could identify the sneer in her voice.

Though he didn’t let it get to him, especially when he saw the magazine she held in her hand. He stifled a smile before looking at her.

‘You sure about?’ he asked her as he put on his Cartier sunglasses.

‘Because that magazine you’re holding suggests that you do see a lot of me’ he finished as he walked away and entered the car.

As the car was driving away he noticed that Catelyn was now looking at the Forbes magazine he was perusing through at the bar yesterday in shock.


	2. A Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany recounts her weekend in the North before the Stark family dinner.

__

_“I smell a lot of 100 million dollars, 100 million dollars, 100 million dollars…” – Khaled Mohamed Khaled_

**Dany**

Northern mornings were extremely cold. Dany had never been more thankful for a mansion with built-in heated floors because she truly was a southern girl at heart who was accustomed to warm weather.

Though being in the house wasn’t the issue, it was always warm there.

Yesterday they had taken their chopper and flown around the North with Jon showing her and the girls places he would go to as a child. They even went as far as the City of Bear Island, the city where Benjen had been stationed. Whilst not an impressive city, Dany did appreciate how large the Northern Republic was as compared to the Crownlands.

The further North they went, the colder it got and Jon mocked her endlessly when the girls and her would shiver in their Armani coats. But she had endured that cold Saturday because she was finally seeing where Jon grew up.

But she wasn’t satiated because whilst they went to cities like Bear Island and Deepwood Mote. She still hadn’t explored the city he grew up in, Winterfell.

Dany wanted to see Winterfell High, the places he played and his usual hangouts.

But that was easier said than done, she sufficed.

She knew that her husband didn’t want to be here much like she wouldn’t want to return to the shores of Dragonstone to surf as she used to as a child.

So for now she would presume their travelling escapades of the North would be put to a halt and this day would be focused on the dinner at hand.

The dreaded dinner if Jon’s expression was anything to go by.

Outside the balcony she could hear Jon’s voice discussing a serious matter.

‘… I understand Dacey but it’s all been taken care of’ Jon muttered.

His face had portrayed one of apt concern as he spoke with Benjen’s longtime partner and girlfriend. Dany felt sad for her that she lost someone she loved when they hadn’t even hit the age of fifty yet.

‘Look Dacey whatever it is you and Uncle Benjen were keeping private, it’s your business not mine. Out of everyone I think I would be the last person to judge either of you for wanting away from the Stark life’ he said.

Whilst it sounded like he was trying to comfort Dacey, Dany felt a pit in her stomach with regards to his tone.

Jon had grown a disdain for his Stark side of the family. Arya appeared to be the only one he had tolerance for in his life. And whilst she very much wanted to help him make amends and let them turn over a new leaf, she couldn’t do so because she knew her husband’s anger was somewhat warranted.

And she honestly couldn’t help him when she herself had her own familiar drama twirling beneath the mist of uncertainty that was their relations.

‘Alright we will see you in Kings Landing. Whatever you need’ he said as he cut the phone.

Jon walked in like a heavy cloud full of thoughts bearing down on him before he looked at her and smiled.

‘Did I wake you?’ he asked as he crawled next to her.

She shook her head and leaned back into their bed exposing her body that was wearing Jon’s white Ralph Lauren shirt.

‘What’s up with Dacey?’ she asked.

Jon shrugged tiredly.

‘Luwin, he’s the Stark family lawyer’ Jon clarified. ‘He subpoenaed her; apparently Benjen and her joined their assets from the mortgage of their house to their car.’

Dany creased her brows.

‘They weren’t married though’ she said.

Jon sniffed with a small laugh though it lacked any humor.

‘And with good reason, Uncle Benjen was probably protecting her from all of this shit’ he said. ‘Only problem is he took out a loan from the Stark family trust because he assumed he was using the portion grandfather left him when he first purchased their house along with their cars. Only problem is he did it after my grandfather died and my father was the sole proprietor.’

_Fuck._ Dany thought. She knew the implications of that, the trustee which in this case are the Starks or more specifically Ned Stark and whoever his will passed down to, are the ones who control the assets.

‘And the Starks want it back?’ Dany asked him. The Starks weren’t as wealthy as Jon and her, what Ned Stark would make in ten years is what they would make in two days. But whilst the Starks weren’t as wealthy they were incredibly well off and claiming all these assets back should be their priority.

Jon shifted towards her in the bed and lay next to her.

‘It’s harsh but in all fairness it’s standard practice, they claim their assets back…’ she cut him off because she knew the way the business world works.

‘Because if they don’t claim it in an inordinate amount of time, the court will rule with whoever was the possessor’ she finished for him knowingly.

‘And your father is now dragging her to court?’ she asked him, it still didn’t sit right with her.

It seemed incredibly tasteless especially considering Dacey had just lost the love of her life.

‘No the Constance Honorable would never do that but in typical Ned Stark fashion, he will act blind to it and he won’t be aware what’s going on in house which is just as bad.’

The formality in which he spoke of his own father always brought her to chills. Jon always called Ashara’s husband dad without fail, though it was hard not to love Davos even if it first glance it appeared that Ashara was way out of his league. Davos was kind, patient and good and hard-working man that tried his best for his family.

But it made her all the more curious to her husband’s coldness when it came to his actual father, Eddard Stark. When they had first started dating, Dany always thought that Jon was lucky that his main complaints about his father’s biggest flaw was his passivity, sternness and not caring enough. She would have preferred that in contrast to her father.

Though now she knew that Jon’s coldness toward his father ran deeper than that especially when he had told her of what had transpired in his final year of high school when he had enough and never returned to the North.

‘I suspect that this is all Luwin he would definitely pull this type of shit especially if it means a political party like House Stark owns a residence in another city, the reason for the subpoena was probably because Dacey didn’t attend the funeral were they would have settled the matter but Dacey would never attend not with Catelyn there’ Jon stated.

When Benjen came to the Crownlands, he often told them that Dacey did not like Catelyn.

And that was another curious case.

Dany herself had met the woman briefly when Arya was showing her around the house but neither spoke a word to each other.

But in that quick interaction Catelyn hadn’t been cold or cruel, in fact she had seemed courteous and somewhat kind. Not at all what Jon had described her to be or who she had assumed Catelyn to be given Jon’s more quiet nature when they first met.

That had changed when she had walked to the car with the girls and she saw a different look on Catelyn’s face, one she couldn’t describe but certainly one that somewhat attested to Jon’s past

She would get a measure of her tonight.

Jon gazed at her for a second before touching her knee.

‘Hey I know you’re avoiding your mother till next week but do you mind getting in touch with Jorah and let him know what’s going on with his cousin’ he said.

She nodded and immediately started sending a text telling him it’s urgent.

Jorah had come into their service because of Benjen and Dacey so he would want to know if anything is of concern with his family.

‘And what are we going to do about Dacey?’ she asked, she already had a plan in mind. Bribe the county in Bear Island to sponge the record of Benjen’s involvement in secrecy. Her husband was of one mine with her though as usual.

Jon smiled as he shifted on top of her with a knowing smirk.

‘It’s already taken care of love, the subpoena is already being thrown out and when Luwin checks the ownership of the asset. Let’s just say he will find no trace of ownership in anything Benjen invested. That money he cashed out for the Stark it was donated to a hospital to pay for leukemia patients’ Jon stated cockily.

She giggled because she knew that if the Starks tried to fight it then they would have to open a case against those said patients…which they can’t because it’s all confidential and the whole story will make the news which would be bad publicity. Something that Luwin will fear and won’t want to tell Ned Stark if Jon claims he is as ignorant to all of this as he believes.

‘And how did you get this done?’ she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Jon gave her a fake shrug with a little smile as he picked her up into his strong arms.

‘I did nothing at all but on an unrelated note, that hedge fund you put into in Astapor with that clothing line, well a year from now they will be funding the farm of the District Attorney in Bear Island’ he said.

Dany laughed as she splayed him with kisses. He was eager for her, so much she could tell. With him groping her whilst she straddled her legs around his waist as they sat in the middle of the bed.

She took a second to look into his dark eyes, those eyes that she fell for and shuddered because she truly knew the toll this weekend was taking on him.

‘Jon I really am sorry about this dinner. Arya offered the suggestion and we were in your childhood bedroom and for a foolish fleeting moment it felt like a good idea but then the moment passed and I saw how you looked at your father and Catelyn’ she said with her head down.

Jon nodded and lifted her chin up as he nuzzled her. His eyes holding no blame, he was always so easy to forgive slights. It spoke volumes of his family that he couldn’t get over it with them.

He still smiled though.

‘I know but what’s done is done. As much as I wish to bathe you in Dornish Ciroc all night before we leave tomorrow and make love to you in this gorgeous house. I will settle for hours of torture with my Northern family’ he said playfully.

She nodded in return but Jon was already attacking her from the position they lay in and she felt no hesitation as she invited him in.

The moment he was inside her she didn’t hold back and thanked the designer of the house for making the walls and the windows sound proof. Not wanting to scar her daughters by them hearing her loud screams.

As big as the mansion was, their room was just down the hall.

The moment she came, Dany was lying on her back looking up at the roof and she noticed that the windows were similar to their penthouse in the Crownlands because there was a giant screen attached to it that would play whatever they wanted to watch as they lay to rest.

The two of them were laying there breathless and huffing like two people who hadn’t jogged in months. She sighed knowing that soon she would have to get up before the Ally and Lizzie started looking for them.

Jon had gotten up but promptly returned with his pad underneath his armpit his muscles bulging whilst holding two cups of coffee.

Dany gave him a kiss before taking a sip and being jolted awake by the caffeine that ate away at the tiredness she felt from Jon’s assault earlier on.

‘Hey so I still need to know which shop to checkout to get groceries’ she was met with silence and realized her husband was on his pad with his ear pods on smiling at something. ‘Jon?’

He looked up and gave her an apologetic smile.

‘Sorry, Allyria sent me a YouTube link and a timestamp and said the two of us must watch’ Jon stated.

Usually Jon would never care for any of that, Dany was sure that there were countless blue ticks that Jon had left in his wake because he didn’t care that much to communicate with people. He only made that exception for a few people. Allyria was part of that list.

Dany scooted closer to him as Jon offered her an ear pod and clicked on the link before going to the 3:54 timestamp.

She smiled when she saw the title “Last Week Tonight with Thoros of Myr” with the new episode titled “Billionaires.”

A part of her was confused because Dany was subscribed to the show on YouTube where Thoros would breakdown current events with his signature style humor with a live studio audience. She was a fan of the show and that was something her sister in law knew very well.

Jon played the video on the timestamp.

_“These are frightening time s people because whilst there are not a lot of Billionaires in this precious country of the Crownlands, the very few that stay here own literally everything. And when I say everything, I mean they have a “stake” in everything just like President Robert Baratheon during breakfast, lunch and dinner.’ Thoros quipped as he held a stack of papers whilst sitting on his desk._

_The audience laughed and Dany let out a low amused grunt when they showed a picture of the President of the Crownlands scarfing down a prime rib steak._

_‘PUT DOWN THE BEEF ROBERT, YOU HAVE CHILDREN’ Thoros gestured frantically and mockingly._

_‘But in terms of why you should fear billionaires who literally own every fucking thing. Take President Robert’s father in law, Tywin Lannister aka the Night King with golden hair. He owns Lanniscorp, one of the biggest trading companies in all of Planetos and one of the biggest mining reserves on the planet. He is also the owner of one of the largest airports in the country and various other ventures. This is him being interviewed about the death of the miners in his home country, the Westerlands. Were thousands of people died.’_

_The video shifted to a CNN interview of Tywin sitting tall and proud whilst being interviewed though Dany could tell he looked annoyed if his stature was anything to go by._

_“Interviewer: Many reports have confirmed that you were aware of the dangers of the mines in the incident in Casterly Rock. There are still claims of restitution for the lives lost._

_Tywin stared at him with a sharp glare as if hoping to get to the point._

_Tywin: Is there a question._

_Interviewer: Yes because many Casterly Rock citizens feel that their loved ones were sheep to the slaughter. Won’t that hurt Lanniscorp legacy?_

_Tywin sniffed in amusement._

_Tywin: A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of the sheep.”_

_The video cut back to Thoros who had his eyes comically widened whilst the crowd went “OHHHH.”_

_‘Yeah, that’s your president’s father in law. He is the one who paid for the Stag campaign’ Thoros stated to the crowd as he rambled on about how shady he thought Tywin was._

_‘But while this episode so far has showed you that all billionaires are evil and if Scrooge McDuck existed in this continent of Westeros then he would probably be slave owner’ Thoros quipped yet again whilst the image showed a rather unsavory image of Scrooge with a whip in his hand. There was a delayed laugh as the audience took time to appreciate the image on the top right of the screen with Thoros trying not to laugh._

_‘With all that I am going to blow your mind with these four words despite all the evidence to the contrary that will blow your mind’ Thoros shifted closer to the camera dramatically as he whispered. ‘There are good billionaires.’_

_The audience laughed as Thoros mimicked his head exploding like it what he said was the most unfeasible thing on the planet. ‘It’s true and whilst the statement there are good billionaires in the world is just as ridiculous as there being Septons who don’t touch little boys.’_

_The audience laughed somewhat hesitantly as Thoros smiled at them cringing at the last joke._

_‘Yes and as ridiculous as that sounds take a look at these two here…’_

_Dany’s eyes widened and Jon let out a dry chuckle as an image of them popped up. It wasn’t shocking for them to be mentioned in media. They were celebrities after all but they weren’t “Thoros of Myr celebrities.”_

_The image was taken at the Red Keep ball with Jon and her in a deep embrace as they looked into each other’s eyes. Jon looked as handsome as always._

_‘And no these are not characters in a CW show, who after seven good seasons and a final season that was disappointing because it was written by two frat boys who somehow lucked their way into a famous novel series, are finally happy and have defeated their enemies in their young adult dystopian universe and kiss as they swear to be together forever’ Thoros says quietly to some soapy background music that would appear in that particular type of show. ‘Before he stabs her in the heart and lets her die because this was written by frat boys who somehow lucked their way into a famous novel series.’_

_The audience laughed as they recalled the TV show he was mocking._

_‘All jokes aside for those of you who don’t know or don’t watch the news these two supermodels are Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. The youngest ever billionaires in the history of this planet and while I won’t go into specifics of their wealth which is a fuckload by the way, it’s disgusting how much they are worth. I will state the reforms they have introduced unlike their peers such as Tywin Lannister who calls himself a lion even though he is sixty five years.’_

_There were sniggers before a picture of her popped on screen of her GQ photo-shoot._

_‘Firstly Daenerys Targaryen or as I like to call her, everyone’s dream anime girlfriend’ the audience laughed. ‘Daenerys funded an act that has reduced child-trafficking and slave labor. Not just Westeros but throughout major parts of Essos. She is also known to be the head of many hedge fund charities, last year alone she donated over one point five billion to Essosi refugees and orphanages. That’s insane, someone this attractive should not be this kind.’_

_Jon shot her a churlish smile as she rolled her eyes._

_‘And this is such an inspiring thing from a Valyrian native considering how our President feels about them’ Thoros said._

_The audience whooped and clapped._

_‘But she’s not the only one. Look at her husband here, who I hold a grudge against because he you can’t be this handsome and have a top knot’ Thoros stated as he gestured to his hair. ‘The only reason I do it is to distract you from my face!’_

_This time Dany laughed along with the audience and Jon rolled his eyes. He had cut his hair short and Dany would admit she missed his lovely locks._

_‘Now Jon Snow is handsome which is a big surprise when you consider the fact that he is a Northerner’_

_This time Jon laughed at the expense of his home country._

_‘Oh come on you know they’re not attractive. But yes Henry Cavil’s love child with Adam Driver is a Northerner and he championed a green initiative that meant that his peers along with himself have to contribute a fee to help preserve the environment. So not only is he handsome but he is also progressive’ Thoros paused and gave a look of scrutiny to the camera. ‘Are you sure he’s a northerner?’_

_The crowd laughed yet again but Dany was sure that Thoros would be losing quite a few Northern subscribers today._

_‘It didn’t make sense until I found out that Jon Snow is actually half Dornish’ he said with his hand raised. ‘NOW IT MAKES SENSE.’_

Thoros prattled on and Dany made sure to thank Allyria for showing her and giving her a good laugh. The two of them had to stop the video when the girls barged in wearing their pink pjs and squealing with excitement because there slight drizzles of snow outside and they wanted to play.

Dany hadn’t cooked in a long time so the thought of cooking for a large host was a thought she dismissed immediately even though Jon stated that was custom for .

She almost considered it when she was assessing the chefs in Winterfell, there was a reason the Northern Republic wasn’t known for its cuisine or their cooks for that matter.

In all honesty, Dany wanted to hightail out of Winterfell with the swiftest of actions; she was definitely no longer in mood to be mingling with the Starks.

Whilst Dany knew there were always two sides to a story, Dany had also known Jon and she knew his capacity for forgiveness and having a clean slate.

Jon was built that way and she knew that whatever grudge he held against his family was probably warranted.

Though she wanted to try, not just for his sake or Arya, the only family member from the Starks that Dany had grown accustomed to. She also did it for her daughters.

The girls needed to know some semblance of their family besides the Daynes if by some chance they could relay harmoniously.

They weren’t off to a good start.

In that spirit, whilst she wouldn’t be cooking and would be hiring the best class chef the north could offer, she would at least do the shopping.

It was a small and mundane thing that she hadn’t done in years. After all the time and success their firm has granted them, she need only rely on those that worked for them.

It filled Dany with a sense of pride considering where she came from, shopping used to be a fun activity she did with her mom as she sat at the edge of her trolley.

Dany bit her lip as she moved her shopping cart.

Sooner or later she would have to speak to her mother; she put it off till later.

Her relationship with her mother was still a viable one.

Her father was obviously a no go; he made sure of that when he kicked her out in the vilest way possible. Her eldest brother ran off and disappeared to Gods know where, they couldn’t declare him missing because he was alive and didn’t want to be bothered by them. Viserys used to hurt her whenever her father hurt him and whilst she accepted that when she was in high school. She had learned to heal from his abuse now.

Besides her Uncle Aemon who took her in after the whole Drogo fiasco in High School when her father sent her packing saying he wouldn’t tolerate a whore in his roof, her mother was the only family member she knew with whom she still had a successfully budding relationship even though they hadn’t spoken in some time.

And now she was out of prison.

She was currently staying in a hotel in Pentos that Jon and her where co-owners of.

Her mother had taken the fall for her father and spent almost fifteen years in the Mereen penitentiary. The sentence had actually been forty years but she was let out for good behavior even though the case was sealed shut. Unofficially Dany had done dealings to help her get out.

It’s a thought that saddened her; Dany wished she had been as rich as she was back then. She could have influenced her way through the whole process. Making so many silent donations to the judiciary committee that this case would either be thrown out at best or put in litigation hell.

But what’s done was done and she could only get to know her mother now.

Though with her mother, came her father and her brother. Dany definitely did not want them anywhere near her babies.

She shook herself out of her trance and kept selecting sauces and items that the chefs may care to try.

Wintermart was an oddly unique store by the Wolfswood that sold everything.

She did admit that the store wasn’t as busy as the others back home. The place was a breath of fresh air and seemed to have a more country aesthetic.

Jon had always described the North that way and she smiled as she tried to reach the Lamb spicing on the top shelf.

Perhaps to make that Lamb pie with the peas and onions he is always going on about whenever he complains that they don’t make it as good as they do in the North.

She huffed and shuffled whilst trying to reach the top counter but was met with nothing but failure.

Dany was about to call out for the shop assistants who for some reason where sitting together in a group and watching her with some amusement.

She bit her tongue cause in any situation a normal person would call the manager and complain but the pettiness within her wanted to buyout the Wintermart franchise and see if the assistants would be as amused then. She was saved by someone, who put the tin down in her trolley.

He had an easy smile with brown hair that had semblance of red; he was holding a bottle of wine and stood with a sandy haired boy that kept eyeing her as if she were his ideal fantasy.

‘Thank you’ she said with a huff and a friendly laugh focusing on the man who helped her.

He smiled back brightly and she finally recognized him from the funeral.

‘Robert?’ she asked as she shook his hand.

He smiled more brightly now.

‘Robb actually’ he replied.

Robb was trying his best to hide that he was checking her out, an action that Dany had become accustom to when it came to men. Though it was slightly disappointing when it came from Jon’s brother.

But whilst Robb pretended not to glance at the cut of her cleavage his brown haired friend didn’t hide it at all.

Instead he seemed to have a goofy grin and a cocky smile that he leered towards her. Dany scowled at him and he immediately cowered and turned away.

Robb sensing her discomfort and the shift to a growing tension decided to put some ease back to their encounter.

‘I apologize for the lack of decorum from the employees. Winterfell may be a big city but we all know each other like it’s a small town especially Wintertown. When the billionaire wife of a Stark son comes to a store in a Lamborghini, well gossip is their only strength’ he said with a smile.

Robb had a charm about him, made you feel as if you had always been friends.

Jon never spoke much about his brother but she knew there was a clear dislike between the two, one that never made sense to her considering Arya had told her that they used to be friends. Though in her eyes what had transpired would be hard to let go.

‘Well I thank you for your assistance’ she said as she dismissed him and started to make way, not in the mood to converse with him anymore.

Robb looked as if he had more to say.

‘Am I invited…for tonight?’ he asked hesitantly.

Dany nodded unsurely.

‘You are’ she said.

Robb smiled to himself and she didn’t miss the frown on Theon’s face, one that could be attributed to jealousy.

‘Then I am excited to be there’ he said.

Dany gave him a stiff smile and made her way to the till.

Till operator who was placing her items in a bag, something that also blew Dany’s mind, where they resided it was just self-service at the till. But then again. It was an appreciated way of distributing jobs throughout the community so she didn’t complain much.

The till operator kept eyeing her curiously.

And Dany did her best to not get annoyed but the girl had been the twentieth person to look at her that way.

‘Something on my face?’ she asked as she tapped her platinum card to pay.

The till operator shook her head in horror probably realizing her rather rude stares weren’t as conspicuous as she thought them to be.

Dany waited for the receipt but the till operator shook her head.

‘Sorry mam, we don’t process those types of cards’ the girl said.

Dany let out an annoyed breath, cursing herself for her lack of foresight. This is why she paid people to do this shit. That card was usually used at hotels and high end dealers. Not local supermarkets who probably don’t know of its existence.

She should have used her phone to pay but she kept it at bay waiting for Jorah to respond to her..

Instead she pulled out a hundred dollar bill and told the girl to keep the change.

‘Forgive me mam, I wanted to ask if you were Jon Snow’s wife, I saw the two of you on Forbes magazine’ the girl commented.

Dany nodded with a smile.

‘That’s me’ Dany said with a smile.

The girl’s eyes widened and Dany felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Whilst she was definitely rich enough to be a global phenomenon, Dany wasn’t an outright celebrity who would be stopped dead in her tracks by fans.

‘I am sorry if I am acting strange miss, Winterfell may be a big city but the Wolfswood is a small town and people have been gossiping about the billionaire’s who returned’ the girl said.

Dany nodded once again, hoping that she could be done with the conversation.

‘Will you folks be helping Senator Ned in the elections. It’s been a long time since a Winterfell man was president, let alone a Stark. I’m sure it will help with you two around’ the girl questioned.

The statement stymied Dany, she didn’t know about that.

‘We’re just here for a funeral’ she said evenly but her mind was racing.

The girl’s face dropped.

‘Oh my apologies, Lieutenant Benjen was beloved around these parts’ she said.

Dany bid the girl goodbye and immediately pushed her trolley to her Lamborghini.

The car was red and black and had a dragon’s engine with a supreme horsepower or so Jon told her when she arrived, truth be told she appreciated the whip because of the color not whatever car jargon Jon would obsess over.

She packed her groceries as she thought on what the girl said.

There was a honk of a horn and Dany turned to see a Jeep Cherokee, in the car she saw Robb and his sandy haired friend Theon wave at her.

Dinner would certainly be interesting that night.

When she entered the car Dany immediately called someone she knew could help her get to the bottom of things.

‘Hello’ he said.

She smiled at how irritated he sounded.

‘Long day, I presume their all long considering’ she said with a giggle.

Tyrion gave her a fake laugh.

‘That joke was hilarious the first three hundred times I heard it. Dwarf jokes are not as unique as you think’ she could hear he was typing away at something.

‘I thought the preferred term was little people?’ she asked him in a mock tease.

He snorted on the line before mumbling something probably to his assistant.

‘Is this a bad time?’ she asked him.

‘It’s always a bad time’ he said dryly. ‘Especially when I am left running your empire but such is the life of the COO.’

‘That’s what I love to hear’ she said as she started the car and switched on the GPS to get back home.

‘How’s Jon?’ Tyrion asked and she noted that he had paused whatever he was doing and showing some concern.

Dany didn’t know how to answer him.

‘He’s dealing the only way he can’ she said.

‘Perhaps this weekend maybe good for him, he can reconnect with his family’ Tyrion stated. ‘It’s what you wanted.’

It is what she wanted.

‘Yeah about that, I need you to do something for me. I heard from the grapevine that Jon’s father is running for office’ she said.

Tyrion yawned in the background.

‘Isn’t he in office already?’ Tyrion asked in a bored tone.

‘Apparently he is aiming higher. President of the North to be exact’ she said.

Tyrion hummed in the background.

‘Makes sense, went from Judge to Senator to Governor to Mayor of the largest city of the entire country. President is the next step’ he replied.

She hadn’t known about all that, Tyrion would know, he made it his business to know about them even if they weren’t interested. She never asked because she knew Jon didn’t want to be bothered.

‘But he has a lot of competition’ Tyrion added. ‘He will need a lot of support… Oh’

‘Yeah’ she said knowing he realized.

She stopped by the red light and watched as people gawked at her car.

‘You think they will want to use Jon?’ he asked.

She sighed.

‘I don’t know, we’re having dinner tonight and I kind of urged Jon to do this’ she said.

‘Well let’s not jump to conclusions. Dinner might just be dinner but I can look into their dealings silently’ he said.

She smiled in appreciation.

‘Thank you Lannister. You’re the seven dwarfs to my Snow White’ she said.

She didn’t have to be there to know he was rolling his eyes.

‘Doesn’t Jorah usually deal with this sort of stuff for you?’ Tyrion asked.

She bit her lip.

‘He’s on a special assignment’ she replied.

‘Ah yes, mama Targaryen. Well, be sure to give her my love’ he said

Tyrion hung up and she laughed as she crossed an intersection to head home.

She kept driving but when she approached the crest on the hell she saw two police cars parked by the corner near their gate.

The cars flashed for her to stop.

Dany turned to park on the side of the road.

A woman approached the car, she had red hair and a freckled face. She was pretty in a rough way, though she looked too scrawny to be a cop.

Dany let her windows down as the cop assessed her.

‘Is there a problem officer?’ she asked the lady.

The woman seemed to be done assessing her and whatever she saw, she clearly didn’t like.

‘No problem at all, I was patrolling the area but then I heard through the grapevine that Jon Snow had returned’ the red haired said.

Dany nodded though it worried her considering theirs was the only estate within a mile of here.

‘You know my husband?’ she asked the officer. The woman slightly winced when she said the word husband but she forced a smile on her face.

‘We were best friends in high school’ the officer replied.

Dany nodded impatiently, once again she was being dragged into in an unwanted conversation with a local. This is why she hired people to do these things for her.

‘Well you can come on by and meet him, we’re here till Monday’ she said.

The red haired smiled.

‘Will do, tell Jon that Ygritte Giantsbane gives her his love’ Ygritte stated.

Dany smiled and sped away to their gate.

Dany entered the house and the chefs along with the servers and caterers took the items out the car to start preparing for the meal later tonight.

Jon was in the living room watching a cartoon with Lizzie and Ally.

Her daughters lay on either side watching the 120 inch TV mounted to the wall.

Jon was barely paying attention to the pig that kept asking her babies questions to which her daughters would shout back an answer.

Instead he was on his pad.

She took a seat next to Ally who was way too engrossed to pay attention to her.

Jon turned to her.

‘Hey. So how’s your drive?’ he asked her.

She gave him a kiss before remembering the weird conversation she had almost ten minutes ago.

‘Well I bumped into Robb at Wintermart’ she said.

Jon frowned.

‘Something tells me that wasn’t accidental’ he said as grumbled onto his pad.

‘He was asking if he was welcome tonight’ she said as she tried not to say it too loudly. Dany knew her daughters and they remembered things that she wished them not to and would blurt them out at inopportune times.

‘The only people who are welcome are Arya and Rickon, the latter because I don’t truly know him. As for the rest, it’s just me being polite’ Jon replied.

She didn’t want to probe further. The dinner would be in a couple of hours and she didn’t want Jon angry.

‘I met an officer Giantsbane on the corner of our turn. I remember you saying there was a school bully with that surname’ she said.

Jon looked up from his pad with some interest and slight confusion.

‘I didn’t know Tormund was a cop’ Jon stated with his brows creasing.

‘No she said her name was Ygritte’ she gave him a smile when recognition shot into his doe eyes.

He nodded ruefully.

‘She was… is Tormund’s little sister’ he said.

‘And Tormund was the school bully?’ she asked him.

Jon laughed.

‘You would think but no Tormund is a teddy bear, she was the school bully. Used to torment me when I was a junior and never knew why up until I realized she liked me. She practically bullied me into dating her. She was my first girlfriend from ninth to tenth grade’ he recalled.

She signaled for him to move away from the girls and he followed.

‘I gathered that there was history there though I got some weird vibes from her like she has posters of you on her wall. How did you two break up?’ she asked him.

‘I found her making out with Theon’ Jon smiled.

Dany’s eyes widened.

‘Wait is she the ex that… with Robb?’ she asked him, her voice serious.

Jon’s face darkened.

‘No that was Val that one was…’ he said with gritted teeth before he composed himself. ‘With Ygritte I was relieved when I caught her at the party with Theon, it wasn’t entirely her fault. I became distant and Theon would have sex with anything’ he said.

Dany sat on the chairs by the counter as she took a bowl filled with grapes.

‘You were quite the heartbreaker back then, weren’t you?’ she asked him with a raised brow.

Jon rolled his eyes dismissively but he gave her one of his small smiles.

‘So I am assuming she was your first?’ she asked.

‘She was’ Jon replied with grimace.

Dany chuckled and Jon playfully nudged her.

‘Stop laughing it was embarrassing’ he said.

Dany nodded in understanding.

‘Can’t be as bad as mine’ she said.

The mood immediately turned somber.

The memory of her father slapping her and throwing a suitcase at her knees flashed through her mind.

Jon knew some of the details of that story with Drogo, just like she had known about the Val situation. Two moments that led to them leaving their homes and never looking back.

It was sad to think back on them so Jon decided to lighten the mood.

‘Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen’ he said her first, middle and last name in fake outrage despite the small smile on his face. ‘Are you telling me that when we wed that you weren’t a virgin?’

She couldn’t help but giggle at his tone. Whilst most would find her husband to be broody, Jon could be incredibly funny when he wanted to and he would do anything to make her laugh.

‘Did you think I was a virgin?’ she asked him back playfully.

‘Yes but now that I know you’ve been defiled…Ugh I feel betrayed’ he said but even he couldn’t hide his smile now.

She chuckled.

‘So let me get this straight, you’re allowed to swim in all this pussy before you met me’ she said as she exaggerated her arms.

Jon protested. ‘Don’t say “all” like that. Literally two people.’

She laughed along with him.

‘It was only two people for me as well. But I am the slut despite us being the same, a bit misogynistic?’ she questioned whilst he sniggered.

‘Don’t know what tell you love, those are the rules’ he said with a shrug.

She was about to ask him a question but they were interrupted when two blonde heads interrupted them on the counter.

‘What are you two talking about?’ Lizzie questioned in an adorable voice as she put her head up Dany’s thighs and pouted in between her legs.

Her phone rang so Jon picked up Ally and snatched Lizzie from her.

‘We were talking about the fact that your mother is riddled with koodies whilst I remain clean except when I am kissing you…’ Jon proceeded to attack their babies with kisses whilst Ally and Lizzie protested with giggles and squeals.

She smiled as she pulled out her phone and saw Jorah’s name on display.

‘Hey Jorah I have been trying to get a hold of you all day’ she said whilst trying to contain her laugh when Ally was trying to run towards before being pulled back in Jon’s grasp.

‘Well considering I sent him on a wild goose chase and took his phone, you might be waiting a little longer for him my little Storm…’

Dany felt as if the air had collapsed out of her lungs, for some reason her heart was beating both fast and slow simultaneously. The room felt bigger now, which was an impossible understatement considering the size of the house. Jon was staring at her curiously while he twirled the girls around wondering why her face had suddenly looked ashen he even mouthed “are you okay?”.

‘Muna?’ she asked even though she knew.

Her voice still sounded the same never changing in its tone no matter the circumstances.

From when she would sing her lullabies as a little girl or spoil her in any way whatsoever. Or in the worst of times when she was fourteen at the courthouse when her mother pled guilty for her father’s crimes and had five minutes with her before she was taken away.

Even when she would visit her in prison, her mother’s voice was always kind and strong.

‘Yes my baby’ she could tell her mother was crying. ‘I must say as nice as this hotel is, hearing your voice might be the highlight of my weekend so far.’

Dany couldn’t see through her tears but she could see that Jon had ushered out the children and she could faintly hear Lizzie protesting their departure because her daughter was seeing her cry.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t see you sooner muna’ she said as she clenched her teeth and tried to stop the sniveling. ‘But it was the only way I could get you out, if I came to see you then your sentence would have continued and the deal I made would be undermined because they would see the collusion.’

Her mother was silent for a bit but there was a soft sound from her side.

‘Your absence was a hard pill to swallow but I was moved to a white collar prison so I assumed I had guardian angel. And the fact that I was released from a fifty year sentence in my sixteenth year… Thank you for getting me out’ it broke her heart to hear her mother sound so grateful.

‘I wish I could have done it sooner, I didn’t have the power then’ she said sadly.

Surprisingly her mother snorted.

‘You’ve made quite a name for yourself. You became everything your father wished to become but never could’ her mother stated.

Dany didn’t know what to make of that, her father’s aspirations are what led her mother to serve time.

‘As soon as I am done here, I will come see you’ Dany said ardently wishing she could see her now.

She didn’t know how she knew but she could tell her mother was smiling.

‘Or you could bring me to the Crownlands. I was hoping to see you and certain others as well’ the excitement in her mother’s voice was visible but Dany was hesitant.

She hated she had to say this over the phone.

‘I will come see you mother but my daughters… I can’t’ she said.

Her mother immediately understood.

‘Aerys won’t be in my life Dany, I am done with him’ her mother stated.

That was music to her ears.

‘Not just father, Viserys as well. I won’t let my children go near them not now not ever’ she said.

There was silence from the other side of the phone. Hesitation from her mother’s side.

‘I understand dear, I understand’ though her mother said it with less conviction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was going to post Red Keep first but I decided to put this chapter up since everyone liked the first chapter.
> 
> Next chapter will be the dinner with a lot of drama and a surprise guest.


	3. The Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Dany have dinner with old friends and the Starks.

_"Bitch i'm paid that's all I gotta say ......It ain't my birthday but I got my name on the cake"_

_"Big house, long hallways. I got ten bathrooms I could shit all day..."_

_\- Dwayne Micheal Carter Jr._

**Jon**

Jon and Dany were getting ready for dinner and he laughed after he exited his personal bathroom and saw that his wife had outlined what he would wear for the night.

A Hilfiger shirt was plastered along with a blue Tom Ford suit were perched in his rotating closet. Black Christian Louboutin loafers were also there to complete his look.

Jon put on the clothing and he could feel her eyes in the corner of his dressing room watching him.

Dany was smiling at him looking extremely sexy in her black Givenchy dress and her similar black Christian Louboutin heels that had red soles underneath. Of course she wanted to match him. Always trying to show the world the power couple they were, Ice & Fire.

A part of him was very tempted to rip off the dress and have his way with her. The most rancid scenarios were running through his mind as he stared at her

But he tempered those thoughts because he had to have dinner with the Starks, the least sexy thing he could think off.

‘Have I mentioned how much enjoy seeing you dress’ Dany said as she shifted closer to him with two items in her hand.

Jon smiled and pressed a button that stopped his 100 square meter closet from rotating, given that he already had clothes picked out.

‘I think you like it because you don’t trust my fashion sense’ he said.

She chuckled whilst nuzzling her forehead on his shoulder.

‘When I first met you, you had two outfits. Blue jeans and a tight black shirt or blue jeans and a tight white shirt and that awful square red plaid jacket’ she said whilst making a gagging sound.

Jon laughed remembering how his favorite jacket magically grew wings and disappeared as soon as they moved in together all those years ago.

Dany hated it with all her heart despite how fond of the jacket Jon had been. It had been one of his father’s jackets that Jon had grown into.

‘The tight shirts worked didn’t they?’ he teased and he would have kissed her but Dany stopped him hinting at her lipstick. Jon didn’t care palming her butt and proceeding to lunge but Dany put a hand to his chest.

‘This is Chanel buddy I would rather it not mark your body before the night ends’ he grunted in disappointment which made her giggle before she brought forward two items.

She opened a small box and helped him put on VVS cuff links that went well with his shirt.

Jon then put on the Audemars Piguet watch that glittered due to the encrusted ice around it and it sparkled a little too brightly for him.

‘I don’t like this type of watch; it’s got too many diamonds. Makes me too iced out, I will look like the Night King’ he complained.

Dany rolled her eyes as if she knew he would say exactly that.

‘You say that all the time and you always look great’ she said as she straightened him out whilst patting his jacket.

Jon relented to see her stare assessing him, happy to see her happy. Though the question remained in his mouth.

‘You sure you’re up for this?’ he asked knowing Rhaella’s ill-timed phone call might have shaken her off balance.

Dany nodded with certainty and sighed when she saw his look of concern.

‘Jon I diluted the funds of the Sons of the Harpy before I went into labor, I have been through far worse. I am completely fine’ she said.

He nodded not wanting to press the issue.

‘Good because I am going to need your strength tonight. If there is anything I can tell you about dinner with the Starks, it’s always eventful’ he said.

Dany nodded as they exited his dressing room and walked outside.

She grabbed her pad and handed it to him.

Jon parsed through the information that detailed everything to do with Tullys. Catelyn’s maiden family.

‘What is this?’ he asked.

Dany smirked.

‘I had Tyrion look into the Tully family business when they aren’t campaigning’ she told him.

He had known that Catelyn’s family ran a trout business of selling and distributing fish within the forestry exchange of the Riverlands. That was a usual source of funding for the political campaigns of both the Starks and Tullys.

She had asked Tyrion to look into the Starks which meant the Tullys.

‘Why are you showing me this?’ he asked.

Dany shrugged.

‘Just in case they piss you off. The Tullys generate a mill in revenue each quarter’ she said.

Jon sniffed. 

‘That’s a lot of money?’ he asked with a raised brow.

Dany chuckled now as they made their way to the twins.

‘Apparently’ she said.

He shook his head at her churlishness and decided to be even more playful.

‘I meant in regards to those in the fish market’ he said with a chuckle and she rolled her eyes knowing that he was lying.

Jon stood down stairs in the dining area waiting for the guests who just arrived to enter.

He was currently making small talk with one of the waiters who was gob smacked as to why someone like Jon would speak to someone like him.

Jon didn’t mind it, in fact he preferred it. It was a nice remainder to gain a different perspective on everything that was happening around him. And as snooty and classist as it sounded, it was also a nice reminder of a life he would never ever want to have.

Margaery was the first one to be led into the dining room pavilion, Jon had found it necessary she be invited, showing a bit of kindness to Olenna who had helped them out in the past with her loan. Kind relations were the least he could do

The next guests were Ed and his wife, Jane.

Ed’s wife immediately convened with Margaery and Ed ran to the screen room and rushed for the rugby game that Jon had interrupted with and he quotes ‘his dinner party to show that Jon was better than everyone.’

Jon had laughed and appreciated his old friend’s presence once again.

Though he was most jovial when a familiar smile entered the room.

Jon immediately rushed to Grenn and the two of them shared a bone crushing hug.

‘Look at you, you fucking fool’ he said as he made sure to assess his closest friend.

Grenn was grizzled now, a full beard and a slight scar to his eye. Incredible to think that his friend had been an army boy.

His friend seemed to be fighting some tears but he held them back.

‘I’m the fool? Look at you. All this money and you still have that stupid expression on his face. You’d think a man would stop pouting when their rich’ Grenn said.

Jon laughed.

‘You two can suck each other’s cocks later’ Ed quipped from behind them in that grumpy tone of his.

Grenn assessed Ed with a knowing look.

‘Let me guess the Wolves are losing?’ Grenn teased.

Ed groaned. ‘Their always fucking losing. Being a Wolves fan man, it’s the hope that kills you.’

Jon and Grenn laughed.

‘Pyp not coming tonight?’ Grenn asked them.

Ed sighed and Jon knew why.

‘Couldn’t change his shift, mother needs the payments for chemo’ Ed stated.

Jon had found that out yesterday and it wounded him that his close friend from high school couldn’t see him for that reason alone.

‘Does he need help, we can raise money for him, I mean we are literally standing in the house of billionaire’ Grenn stated sensing the mood was turning somber.

Ed smirked and turned to him.

‘I wanted to offer when I called him but I hadn’t spoken to him in so long and It felt a little tasteless…’ Jon stated.

Ed gave him a scrutinized look though not one that was free from amusement.

‘How so?’ Ed asked him.

Jon shrugged.

‘Offering people money is tricky cause they tend to take it the wrong way, they act as if you think they’re charity cases’ he admitted honestly.

Ed raised a brow and smiled.

‘You’ve been hanging with too many rich people then’ Ed stated. ‘No one would refuse free money.’

Jon laughed ruefully; Ed had always been the grumpy skeptic of their group.

‘Let’s table this conversation for later when Pyp is actually around’ Grenn said before he turned and Jon saw a woman walk in with two little girls by his side.

‘This is my wife Karsi’ Grenn stated proudly.

Jon greeted the three women before he looked at Grenn and turned back to Karsi as he whispered loudly with mischief in his eyes.

‘Blink twice if you’re being held against your will.’

The next guest stymied Jon.

Have you ever dated someone where at the time, being with them made sense but looking back you wondered what on earth where you thinking.

That was Ygritte.

He was a horny and awkward ninth grader and Ygritte was likewise. It had made sense then. Ygritte was also a bully, she was loud and he was not. Constantly pestering him before she wore him down and they started dating.

But as soon as they reached the end of tenth grade, Jon had many regrets and he was somewhat relieved when he caught her with Theon at Angela’s sixteenth birthday party.

She didn’t look that much different from when he last saw her. Her hair was longer.

‘I didn’t know you were invited?’ he said as she hugged him a little over familiarly.

Dany was with Margaery, Jane and Karsi outside discussing random topics. His daughters were playing with Grenn and Karsi’s daughters.

‘Well you know nothing Jon Snow’ she said, she looked him up and down as she assessed him. Her concentration was broken by the laughter coming from the terrace. Ygritte saw the ladies outside of the room and decided to excuse herself to go greet them.

‘So we all noticed how she didn’t answer your question right? Not just me yeah’ Grenn commented staring outside as Ygritte hugged Dany with a chaste smile.

Ed tsked. ‘And I am pretty certain she was on duty tonight.’

Jon ignored them and looked outside as Dany regarded Ygritte with a cool smile as if her presence meant nothing to her. The expression Ygritte returned to his wife wasn’t as cool, he decided to ignore it. Ygritte was nothing more than a childhood girlfriend.

The Starks arrived twenty minutes before the starters were meant to be served.

Jon took a big sip of a smooth Cabernet that Dany had ordered from Dorne.

Grenn smirked.

‘Slow down there friend, the night is only just beginning’ Grenn stated.

He gave Grenn a mocking glint before neutralizing his frustrated features. The hired Lexus cars that they had sent to pick up their dinner guests had returned and the guests entered the visitor’s hall.

Jon stepped forward and saw his father standing in front holding a bottle of wine.

He assessed his father from top to bottom noting that if his father were to stand in front of the many stylists that Jon had met in his career then they would be having meltdown at the small fashion decisions his father had made.

Ned looked fine, for a politician.

But the little things like him wearing a black tie with a grey suit or the fact that his pants should be resized because he looked like he was wearing bootleg jeans.

Though these are things that would not matter to a man entering his fifties but to the many peers in Jon’s circle.

Or was his father fifty already, Jon truly didn’t know.

The rest of the Stark clan were dressed adequately. Robb and Sansa were the clear standouts.

In his younger days Robb had always managed to look dashing. He was the guy that the girls would swoon for. Adulthood had not changed that in the slightest, in fact it seemed to enhance it, and his hair combed back, a full connecting beard with a black suede jacket and pants. Sansa was much the same in her silver black dress and heels, her bright red hair reaching her waist. The rest were dressed moderately.

All of them seemed to be eyeing him as if he were a rare specimen, he gave them all a stiff smile before turning to his father and his wife.

‘Honorable Constance, Catelyn’ Jon greeted them.

His father gave him a pained smile at the name Jon called him.

Though Jon could not do much about that, the woman next to him always frowned at him whenever he called Ned “father” so he resorted to using his title when he was an honorable member of the court.

Ned reached out to shake his hand before handing him a bottle of wine.

‘That was in your grandfather’s collection we hope the pairing bodes well for your new home’ father stated.

Jon assessed the molt liquor and faked a look of intrigue as if studying the bottle. Dany had finally come beside him.

‘Thank you, I will make sure to drink it with Dany’ Jon stated.

He showed it to Dany who faked her smile as she studied the bottle.

(I am never drinking that shit) she said in Valyrian whilst giving him the brightest smile before handing it to the cater to store it away.

He ushered them to enter. Ned and Catelyn passing him to walk inside as they followed Dany.

Arya followed and she had queasy smile ducking his gaze.

‘Nice house, I presume that when you leave I am allowed to house-sit’ Jon rolled his eyes.

He was not entirely happy with Arya; this dinner was entirely her doing when he would have preferred to have a night out with Grenn and Ed instead.

But he couldn’t stay mad at Arya particularly when she widened her eyes the same way Lizzie and Ally would whenever they begged for him to let them do something their mother would not approve of.

‘Well I am willing to rent it out to you. All it will cost is one hundred and fifty a week’ he said. The thousand was implied.

‘150 bucks pfft’ Arya scoffed as if it was nothing.

‘Cute’ was all he said as Arya walked past him and rushed to the twins who were waiting for both her and Sansa.

Rickon followed in looking fourteen and pimply. Jon held in his chuckle when he heard his little brother’s voice strain like a dying lamb as he greeted him. Knowing puberty had dropped its claws on to Rickon so suddenly had filled him with a melancholy he didn’t want to regard.

One of the things that he would never forgive his father and his wife, was him never knowing his brother well enough.

When he had left Winterfell his brother had not even turned four and Jon was sure that Rickon had no memory of him, despite him having memories of him as a baby.

The little brother who did remember him was Bran.

And Bran was…

Bran was strange.

‘Thank you for having me as guest’ Bran said in a robotic voice.

Jon nodded and it took Sansa stepping in to clarify what was happening.

‘There’s a new show Bran is obsessed with about a robot and well…’ Jon laughed at Sansa’s unease and she chuckled as well.

‘He must be a hit with the ladies’ Jon replied as Bran made a beeline for the hors d’oeuvres about to be served.

Sansa snorted.

‘Surprisingly he is dating a senior’ she replied.

That did surprise Jon though Bran was sixteen and almost turning seventeen despite his weird personality and interests.

Another pang of sadness struck him.

Bran and Rickon had never been terrible to him but they were the casualties between Catelyn and him.

Or more specifically between his father and him because as much as he abhors Catelyn, his father was the one who truly deserved his ire.

Sansa complimented his attire stating he looked handsome whilst knowing every single thing he was wearing before she ushered herself inside and Jon stared after her.

From what Arya told her, Sansa was doing her final semester of varsity at Ashemark University in the Westerlands.

Jon never got along with Sansa when they were children.

She was always bratty and annoying and whilst Jon was never a ray of sunshine, he had tried to be her big brother but she always subbed him.

Robb was always her go to.

As unfair as it was to wholly hold Sansa liable for all of this considering she was a child who was listening to her mother.

Sansa was thirteen when he left, young enough for Jon to understand that she did not want to pick sides but she was old enough to at least keep in touch with him.

Arya had.

And whilst Bran and Rickon were too young and couldn’t control how they could talk to him.

Sansa could have, if she wanted to.

But Jon did not hold that big of a grudge, it was more of a painful realization that he had a sister who he barely knew and felt close to nothing for.

Contrast that with his other two sisters who he loved more than life itself.

If he held a grudge against any of his siblings then it was the man in front of him now.

Jon would be lying if he didn’t say that he appreciated seeing the golden boy squirm as he offered his hand.

He shook it firmly.

There was a time when he would have called Robb his best friend, over Ed, Grenn, Val and even Pyp. He would have done anything for his brother and mayhaps that was the problem to begin with.

Robb had felt emboldened to manipulate him for his own use.

‘Thank you for inviting me’ Robb said courteously.

Gone was the self-assured confident tone that Jon knew. This one was more reserved and humbled, he almost sounded like father.

Matter of fact he looked more like father and less like his mother these days.

And for some reason that drove a swell of bitterness in Jon.

‘I thank you for coming’ he said, his tone was measured and cordial. Jon had done this before.

Dining with clients he would rather pummel till they were nothing but blood and flesh.

Stannis had taught him that.

_‘You know how you do your business Snow? How you do your duty when there is someone across the table that you want to slap in the face. You stay docile and calm, let them project onto you what they feel, it’s how you draw them out.’_

In hindsight looking back that was the best advice that Stannis had ever given him because right now Robb was showing his nervousness.

Jon looked behind him and saw Theon eyeing his house and the man seemed to be wobbly.

In his younger years Theon had been someone Jon had blamed for Robb’s more two faced nature. But looking back he was less scrutinizing of the boy and now all he had was sympathy for him.

Jon had never gotten the full details but Theon’s father and uncle had started a terrorist organization called “YARA.” An organization so dangerous that if you typed those words online you will get docked by every federal agency.

They were stopped and Theon was the resultant orphan along with a sister named Asha who was adopted by some other family.

Of course no one knew about it not even his siblings and he was unsure if Robb knew, the only reason Jon knew was because in ninth grade Theon did what he always did and goaded him to the point of fury, he was ready to knock out Theon but Uncle Benjen restrained him and finally told him the truth.

And despite Theon’s nature and how they constantly butted heads, Jon never brought it up.

Theon’s taunts and insults never warranted it and Jon had realized that Theon only did it in front of Catelyn and Robb. He had always ignored the Robb part for the longest time.

‘Is he okay to have dinner because there are children around’ Jon stated in an even tone.

Robb glanced at Theon who was subtly tipsy.

‘He’ll be fine, he takes it to function’ Robb stated.

Jon eyed Theon before leading them to be served, not sure on whether he should comment on Robb’s statement or not.

They all took their seats and Jon could tell that quite a few of them were not used to this kind of dining.

He did find it comical when Sansa and Arya’s eyes widened when Rawin Djamadi came and started playing with his quartet at the top of the stairs.

‘Is that the Westworld guy? Arya asked as she took her seat next to Robb.

Jon nodded and he had to remind himself they were not used to this.

Having a famous artist or musician perform whilst dining with guests had become a norm for him.

Jon sat at the head and Dany sat at the other end of the table at the other head.

Lizzie was seated to his right and Grenn to his left. At the adjacent end Dany sat with Ally to her left and Sansa to her right.

The rest of them filled out the table.

Chefs came in with starters and placed them there and they all ate in silence.

Lizzie couldn’t let things be and was the one to break the silence.

‘Daddy’ she said as she took a small bite of her food.

Jon turned to her with a smile.

‘Yes baby?’ he asked.

‘What is this?’ she asked in a cute voice.

‘Svinekjott’ he said quickly.

His daughter frowned at him clearly not knowing how to word it.

‘Se-veen-ek-zhot’ he said slowly.

Her daughter mouthed with him.

‘It’s old tongue for pig’ he explained. ‘The First Men spoke it; it was basically a combination of Nordic languages.’

His little girl nodded attentively always curious.

‘And what are those languages?’ she asked.

‘Anything Viking related, the Winter Kings spoke it when they settled in the North’ he said with a smile.

She chewed something before finishing it.

‘And who taught you how to speak the old tongue?’ she asked.

Jon smiled at her.

‘Uncle Benjen taught me but he claims that when I was a baby my grandfather used to speak to it me and in no other language’ he said.

His daughter nodded.

Jon briefly looked up and he saw the people gathered were listening attentively.

‘Svinekjott’ she said it perfectly.

‘Veet’ he replied. Which meant very good.

She smiled more proudly and tried to imitate a northern accent ‘Aye…’

That drew laughter from across the table

‘So Dany how did you two meet?’ Grenn asked her from his side.

Ed chimed in giving Dany a friendly smile.

‘And feel free to give a statement if he is holding you against you will, there are two cops here’ Ed quipped as he signaled to Ygritte who sat across him.

The table laughed and Jon pinched his eyes in a smile.

‘That’s a lot of talk considering Jane here’ he said as he gestured to Ed’s wife. ‘If anyone is holding someone against their will, it’s you bold-i-locks.’

Ed reared back in his chair in affront whilst Grenn chuckled by his side.

‘You’re not fooling anyone with the long hair, you’re at war with that hairline’ he jeered and Jane chuckled next to him.

Ed bit his lip in amusement but protested nonetheless.

‘My hairline is not receding, I just have a differently shaped forehead’ Ed argued.

Both Grenn, Jane, Ygritte and Jon gave him disbelieving looks.

‘Please Ed, you look like the main villain from Mulan if he was whitewashed’ Grenn snorted.

They all sniggered as Ed rolled his eyes.

‘I have asked him time and again to shave it all off and he refuses’ Jane stated fondly.

Ed turned to her with a fond smirk that was so unlike him, Jane beamed back with a loving smile of her own.

‘I shaved once when we started high school and these dickheads called me “Discount Lex Luther” for a whole month’ Ed protested.

Jon chuckled along with Grenn remembering that day. Ed had gotten so mad that he didn’t speak to them for a week.

They laughed before Dany proceeded to tell them how they met.

‘We met in my uncle Aemon’s class, he lectures at Oldtown’ she stated to Grenn.

Grenn nodded with an impressed expression.

‘Oldtown University, didn’t know you were an Ivy League boy’ Grenn commented dryly before turning his attention back to Dany.

‘We actually didn’t like each other when we first met; we were competing for top spot in the class in our first semester there; she was also dating this douche of a man. What was his name…um…Essosi bloke with the blue highlights even though he was a grown ass man’ Jon said whilst clicking his fingers trying to recall his name.

Dany laughed.

‘Naharis’ she said.

Jon pointed to her in affirmation.

‘That’s the one’ he stated. It felt like another lifetime.

Dany looked to Ed ‘we were constantly arguing and I think we only became friends when we were both put in a group assignment and we worked well together. We found common ground one day when we were debating, a debate that still rages on till this day’ Dany stated fondly.

Jon smiled brightly at her even though he could feel the gazes from people around the table.

‘Sansa is top of her class and is being touted as the valedictorian when her final semester ends. She’s at Ashemark, an ivy league university’ Catelyn stated randomly. The room fell quiet

Unprovoked as always.

Jon bit back a smile and he momentarily met Arya’s gaze as she rolled her eyes and frowned. He wasn’t smiling at the insecure statement but he was smiling at the reactions of those not too familiar with Catelyn.

Margaery who had been conversing with Robb paused to stare at Catelyn with confusion as if wondering what that contributed to the conversation at hand. Ed’s wife, Jane and Grenn’s wife, Karsi also had the same expression. Dany raised her very expressive brows before sipping her wine.

The rest of the room wasn’t that surprised, not even Ygritte, they knew how Catelyn was.

‘So what debate made you two find common ground?’ Grenn asked and dismantling the momentary silence.

Dany stared at him and he shrugged for her to continue.

‘We were discussing who is the best football player in the world’ she replied before giving him a knowing smile. ‘And till this day we don’t agree.’

Jon shook his head and he immediately forgot about his other family being there because they have had long ranging debates about this.

‘Jon thinks my choice is biased because I am a native Valyrian and the best player of all time is from Valyria. Everyone knows that Lionel Andraerys Messi is not only the God of football but the best player in history, a true dragon’ she said whole heartedly.

It took him back to the day they had that debate whilst they were waiting for their other group members he had been stymied when he saw her watching youtube compilations of football, it was the first time he had been truly interested in her.

‘If he is so good then where are his international trophies Dany. He hasn’t cut it for Valyria’ Jon argued.

She groaned likely knowing he would laude that argument over her head.

‘Unlike my boy CR7. He has won for both club and country’ he added.

Dany rolled her eyes.

‘Just because he’s Dornish, you wouldn’t care if he wasn’t’ she stated.

The argument ranged on from there.

With Grenn, Ed, Arya and even Ygritte adding their opinion.

‘Pele’ his father stated when Dany courteously bought him into the conversation.

Arya was not having it groaning like father was a fossil.

‘Really dad? Pele? He doesn’t count.’

It was a rare thing to see his father smile but if anyone could invoke it then it was Arya.

‘Why doesn’t he count? Scored over a thousand goals’ father questioned her and they all looked at Arya.

‘He was scoring against wounded World War II veterans; I would also score a thousand goals if I had to dribble a man who just fought in the Blackfyre rebellion’ Arya argued.

Jane and Margaery had gone quiet and Jon noticed that this conversation held little intrigue for either of them.

‘Sorry we don’t mean to prattle on about football’ Jon stated.

Jane gave him a thankful look but Margaery shrugged sharing a small smile as she briefly glanced at Robb.

‘No it’s fine I watch “soccer” from time to time’ Margaery stated.

The whole table groaned at the girl from the Reach, a country that wasn’t big on sports with their biggest success being cricket. Cricket…

‘Ed I saw you watching the rugby match earlier. Did you play it in high school with Jon’ Dany asked him.

Jon, Grenn and even Robb and Theon chuckled at that despite Ed narrowing his eyes at them.

‘This one played touch rugby and even then he was on the bench’ Grenn stated.

Ed rolled his eyes.

‘Ed mostly did cyvasse and public speaking’ Jon argued in his defense.

Dany nodded in supplication. Grenn then pushed back as if recalling a memory.

‘Do you remember in ninth grade when we were punished by our coach and had to play the senior rugby team’ Grenn recalled.

Jon laughed in memory before briefly glancing at Robb who was smiling down on his plate.

‘I remember, the coach had been pissed off at us and Robb was taunting Tormund so much that his tackles became piledrivers. What had you even done to him?’ Jon asked Robb with a smile.

Robb glanced at Ygritte with a mischievous smirk debating if he should disclose the insult made to his brother or not.

‘I called him a Tasmanian ginger and he flipped out. He took out his aggression on all of us. Except you, you were always too fast’ Robb pointed out.

The two of them briefly smiled before turning away.

Jon had not missed the smile his father had.

Jon had decided to go to the restroom feeling a need to freshen up and reply to messages on his phone.

He laughed rather loudly when he read a text from his sister Allyria with her complaining about a blind date with a man named Beric, who turned out to be twice her age and came rocking an eye patch to the date.

When he exited the privy, he collided with Ygritte.

‘Sorry, I was looking for the toilet’ Ygritte stated.

Jon raised his brow in alarm.

‘There are four downstairs’ he said wondering why she came to the one close to his room.

Ygritte twirled her fingers nervously.

‘I was hoping to bump into you’ she explained.

Jon only squinted at her in apprehension which made Ygritte smile.

‘Fuck sake Jon calm down, I am not here to seduce you, relax’ she said with a laugh.

He laughed along with her but didn’t match the fervor of her husky pitch as he glanced at her worriedly.

‘You love her don’t you?’ she asked him.

Jon nodded and Ygritte gave him a sad smile.

‘I can’t imagine why. She’s gorgeous and I can tell Catelyn is intimidated by her which is plus. She was always judgy when we were together’ she commented.

He nodded yet again not knowing whether to say thank you or remain silent. They stood there quietly for a moment before Jon grew impatient and clapped his hands.

‘Well’ he said as he gestured to the room. ‘The toilet is there.’

He moved away from Ygritte politely but as he walked away he made sure to send a message to his security to keep an eye on his ex.

‘Jon…’ Ygritte called out for him.

He turned back towards her and saw that her face was serious.

‘My being here is no coincidence… I can’t say more than that because of my job but… I am just glad to see you’ she said before turning away and going into the bathroom.

Jon shook his head in confusion and returned to his guests.

They were finishing their meal as Bran was explaining his passion of computer science and how he wants to become an elite hacker who can see everyone’s data at anywhere at any time.

Jon didn’t know what to make of his younger brother and decided to just list him off as a strange teenager.

‘Mr. Stark I hear you’re running for President this year’ Dany stated as she leaned back in her chair when the wait staff took their plates.

His father gave that signature nod of his.

‘Yes I am, I do hope that everyone here votes for me’ Ned stated.

Jon thought he might have been seeing things but he could have sworn that Karsi just rolled her eyes.

Catelyn, who had seemed irate the whole night probably because many questions were being asked about his success and his life. She had been making silent jabs as well thinking that he wouldn’t notice which he did, he always noticed. She finally seemed joyous that he wasn’t the topic of conversation.

‘Yes Eddard will be the first Stark president since Tohhren’ Catelyn stated proudly whilst clutching his hand before her smile grew brighter as she looked at Robb.

‘And my son will be running for mayor, he will break the record for the youngest in office. Most people his age are doing nothing of substance chasing money and yet he will be making a real difference’ she added.

Jon twirled his cup in amusement as he looked at the room.

There was once a time when Catelyn would say shit like that and nobody would notice even if he always did. But now it seemed everyone besides Bran and Rickon paid attention to that slight.

Grenn grabbed his glass of water pretending to sip whilst whispering to his side. ‘Stay classy Catelyn.’

It was rather opportune that Theon entered the room at that exact moment with Ygritte in tow. Judging by the way he was swaying, Theon had developed a buzz and it seemed as if Ygritte was trying to sober him up.

He saw an apt look of concern on both Robb and Sansa’s faces.

Dany on the other hand had an unamused expression painted on her features.

Ned as always remained quiet and oblivious, which made Jon more upset.

After the main course was done, Dany offered to give a tour to Sansa and Arya. The rest of the women tagged along and Jon decided to head to the gaming room where all of them could play a game of pool.

Grenn was currently playing Ed and his father was playing the winner.

The gaming room had a bar and the bartender served Theon iced water on Robb’s behest.

Robb then ushered Theon to sit somewhere more comfortable. Jon clenched his jaw and neared Robb.

‘Is he alright?’ Jon asked in a stiff manner.

Robb looked up and gave him a smile.

‘He will be fine. He over indulges some times’ Robb replied.

Jon stared at Robb and looked at Theon who was rubbing his temples.

‘People over indulge at raves, they don’t look on the verge of passing out at a dinner party’ he replied.

Robb glanced at Theon with that same etched worry he saw earlier.

‘He’s an alcoholic’ Robb muttered.

Jon had gathered as much.

‘You should get him some help. It’s not too late to fix it’ he said.

Robb had no response but Jon felt uneasy under his brother’s hopeful gaze.

Jon began to turn away so that he could walk back to the game of pool that grew louder with Ed protesting that Grenn was cheating because he would blow the ball away whenever it neared a corner.

‘Jon’ Robb stated with his eyes pinched. ‘I am sorry about what happened all those years ago. What I did was horrible. I don’t have any excuse for it. All I can do is apologize and maybe hope that you have it in your heart to forgive me.’

Theon had all but passed out as he lay on the seat.

Earlier they laughed together just like old times. The times when he would play video games with Robb, playing sports and sharing secrets with him like brothers did. Those were the fond memories and for a split second he wanted to forgive Robb, he wanted to trust the vulnerable blue gaze that eyed him hopefully.

Teenage Jon would forgive him

But then again teenage Jon was a weak boy who never saw the other side to Robb’s more two face nature. The Robb that only praised Jon if he didn’t outshine him. The Robb who would pretend that Theon was a dick for constantly being at ends with him even though he participated in the jokes when he thought Jon wasn’t around. The Robb that grew jealous when Jon excelled in class ahead of him to the point that he did unspeakable things. He scowled.

‘And what are you apologizing for Robb? For fucking my then girlfriend, someone you knew I cared for because I told you? Or for not manning up and telling your parents why I gave you a bloody lip and instead lying and planting your “weed” in my bed? Let’s not stop there, are you also going to apologize for the fact that it lead to your mother kicking me out and father trying to force me to go to a reform military school because he thought I had a drug problem. What are you apologizing for?’ Jon asked him.

The room had gone quiet and he knew that Ned, Ed and Grenn were listening to them.

‘I am not as evolved as you think to excuse that you’re a shitty human being’ he stated harshly.

Robb flexed his jaw and gave him a pained expression.

Jon’s phone rang and he had never been happier to see the name on display.

He stepped outside to the terrace and answered the phone.

‘Davos hey’ he said after taking a breath.

His stepfather sucked in a breath in amusement as if detecting his tone.

‘I see dinner is going swimmingly. Perhaps it’s a good thing your mother and I didn’t attend the funeral’ Davos replied.

He snorted.

‘Davos I have way too much money to be dealing with this shit. Do you know that they asked the students at my alma mater if they would rather be given fifty grand or have dinner with me and eighty percent chose dinner with me? That’s how valuable my time is and yet here I am arguing with the Starks’ he said as he sat on the patio.

‘Well to be fair lad, in the dinner when they ask you how to make money, you would probably chide them for not taking the fifty grand’ Davos quipped.

Jon chuckled.

‘This is serious Davos’ he said with a smile.

Davos was always easy to talk to. When he was young he always thought that his mother gravitated towards Davos because she saw the comeliness that his father had or appeared to have.

But Davos was warm and kind.

‘I know lad but perhaps it’s good for you, closure is therapeutic. But what do I know I am just an old man’ Davos replied.

He sniffed in amusement.

‘You called I presume it’s for a reason?’ Jon asked.

He heard a scrunching of papers.

‘Yeah Robert invited Shireen to the Red Keep’ Davos said.

Jon scrunched his eyes in confusion.

‘Why would he do that? Having Shireen near him brings up Stannis and his actions. I know Robert is a moron but he is a moron who captivates his voters. Why would he do this?’ Jon asked.

Davos sighed.

‘I don’t know. Tyrion has a suspicion that he is doing it to garner your support for the elections come year end. He knows that you have been providing and caring for her, he knows that Ashara and I have been raising her. Perhaps he hopes to spin her so that she may convince you’ Davos stated.

Jon sighed, if there was one thing he didn’t want to be was entangled with the president or his fairings.

‘Shireen is smarter than that. Just let her do what she deems best’ Jon replied.

Davos hummed.

‘Your Uncle Gerold also stopped by, he is planning on dropping an investment idea for his new company called the Darkstar’ Davos stated.

Jon rolled his eyes.

‘And lemme guess, he needs funding’ he replied in an exasperated tone.

Davos chuckled.

‘Believe it or not, it sounds like a solid idea. Though I think it’s his girlfriend pushing it, Arianne Martell.’

Jon pushed his head back in surprise.

‘Martell? As in the President’s daughter?’ Jon questioned wondering how his dolt of an uncle managed that at all.

‘That would be the one’ Davos stated.

Jon heard footsteps behind him.

‘Listen Davos I have to go’ he said.

‘Alright lad, give Dany my love’ Davos replied.

He hung up and turned to see his father approach him cautiously with two glasses of whiskey.

Jon took one glass and drank all of it in quick succession.

‘Found this stashed in the bar’ his father stated before he took a sip and hummed in approval.

Jon nodded in agreement.

‘It’s Cognac’ he clarified.

His father looked around for a second.

‘This is a hell of a thing you pulled off. All of this…’ Ned indicated to the mansion.

Jon didn’t turn to look at him.

‘I didn’t do it alone. I had Dany with me through all of it. We did it together’ he said as he watched the bush silhouettes that were trimmed to perfection.

Ned seemed to want to say something before biting on his resolve and spitting it out.

‘You shouldn’t have said that to your brother’ Ned stated.

Jon narrowed his eyes at him.

‘What?’ was all he could mutter.

Ned looked at his glass of whiskey before looking to Jon.

‘I know Robb has wronged you in the past…’ Jon cut him off before he could continue.

Jon turned to stare directly at him.

‘So you do acknowledge that he was in the wrong, that I was innocent of all of this?’ he asked Ned.

Ned grimaced but he nodded.

‘Aye I do and I was wrong for taking his side and taking Catelyn’s side. I made a mistake…’ he didn’t let him finish. Years ago he would’ve been happy with his father acknowledging how Jon was wronged but now it only served to anger him more.

‘A mistake? You have some fucking nerve. You were a fucking judge for almost all your life and your record was spotless. And when your own two sons tell you a story you believed him over me, I was always honest and you knew that better than anyone. Don’t give me that mistake bullshit, mistake implies that it was accidental. You knew very well what you were doing. You chose them over me’ Jon spat. His reaction must have been sharp given how Ned backtracked.

Jon took a breath. Ned sighed sadly.

‘I know and I was wrong, I am sorry Jon. We all are…’ Jon was not in a mood for reconciliation.

He started to walk away ‘dessert is about to be served, we are being rude to our caterers.’

Jon was halfway to the terrace door when Ned called out for him.

‘Robb had a wife and child that passed away!’ his father shouted.

Jon halted. The news sending gripping him like cement as he stood as still as a statue.

He didn’t know that Robb was married, let alone had a child. Jon had only kept in contact with Benjen and Arya. As far as he was concerned they were the only two Starks that he had considered to be family. Still he was perplexed as to why they never told him about that.

‘Was a car accident at Walder Frey’s presidential inauguration in the Riverlands. Talissa had been pregnant, she died in the hospital after they cut out the baby and the boy didn’t survive’

An image of either Ally or Lizzie not surviving or Dany dying in a car accident. The thought made him wobbly. A panging empathy for his brother. Though the one who delivered the information made it contentious.

Jon turned to look at his father.

‘Why are you telling me this?’ Jon asked him.

Ned almost looked like grandfather in that moment.

‘Our family has been going through a lot and regardless of past mistakes we need you Jon. We all need you. I have lost Benjen, I need to know my son now more than ever. Robb has lost everything…’ Ned uttered.

Jon’s mind was racing.

‘And I empathize with his loss’ he replied.

Ned walked closer to him.

‘We need you in our lives Jon. Robb, Sansa, Bran and Rickon. I need you. I understand that you’re angry and you have every right to be but I am begging you for another chance for us to start over. I am asking you to find it in your heart to forgive me. I want you in my life, I want to know my grandchildren’ Ned uttered.

How heartfelt these words would have felt a long time ago. And maybe he could be willing to let it go, ignore the heartbreak he felt from leaving Winterfell thinking his family didn’t love him. Thinking about the main instigator.

‘And what about Catelyn?’ Jon asked him.

Ned who had a hand on his shoulder let go. A frown on his face.

He had seen that look before, it was the look Jon’s mother gave Ned when Jon once confessed something Catelyn had said to him and she had demanded that Jon should no longer stay in Winterfell. How he had cried to his mother not to take him away from Robb and Arya, a fool he was.

‘Jon you need to understand…’ those were all the words he needed.

He nodded.

‘I do, I understand. She’s your wife and it’s hard for her to be reminded by the time you cheated on her, a whole month after your wedding day. A true endorsement of a marriage if you ask me. But I understand, I understand that she has no love for me and that it’s not her job to raise me even though that’s what you promised my mother. I understand that Robb has always felt pressured by me because I always did better in school so he retaliated in protest. I understand all of it, truly I do.’

‘But I also understand that the only reason they get away with that shit is because you let them. In high school when my friend Pyp was being bullied by some asshole named Thenn, Grenn and I went to go confront his parents and the parents told me they didn’t know their son was a bully and I told them that it was their job to know. Just like it was your fucking job to know and help your son instead of asking him to “understand”

Jon was now in his face his voice hoarse.

‘That day when I left I told you what Robb did, I told you why I punched him in the face and I told you that the weed was not mine, I begged you to go ask Val and to take us for a drug test if you have to and you looked me straight in the eye and said “I am disappointed in you son, you need help and you need discipline and you will not be allowed in this house until you learn.”

Ned looked down, his eyes glassy with tears.

Jon turned around and saw Dany standing on the terrace, apprehension written all over her face.

‘I am always the one who has to be understanding and I won’t have any more of it, not around my family, I deserve far better than that. So I want you to understand that there is no reconciliation here, I am doing this because of Arya. She is the only thing we have in common. You made your feelings on me clear on that day so I don’t give a fuck about you or your family, you never wanted me then so I don’t want you now. All I want right now is for you to go inside the house, be graceful and polite, eat your dessert and leave so that I never see your long ass face again. I hope you “understand” that’ Jon stated as he walked towards Dany.

He walked up the steps before turning, he shook away a small slither of guilt seeing his father slouch in defeat but guilt would not work on him. Not anymore.

‘And if your wife makes another crack in front of my daughters. I won’t be as understanding’ he said as he stepped inside.

Dessert was a silent affair with Grenn making most of the small talk with Arya.

Jon noticed that Catelyn was throwing fearful glances to Dany. In fact most of the women were throwing Dany differing looks.

Arya had a look of frustration and failure. Margaery had a look of awe, Sansa had the same look. Karsi looked amused. Jane looked uncomfortable.

Ygritte had left along with Theon and Robb claiming they were going to drop him off at his place.

When Dessert was done, they all said their goodbyes. Arya was the only one from his family that Jon hugged.

Grenn shook his hand and so did Ed.

‘I’m going to give you both a call in the coming week and see if I can’t persuade you both to relocate to the Crownlands’ he said with a smile.

All of them entered the cars they hired to pick them up from their address.

Ned shot him a longing look before he entered his car with Catelyn drove away.

‘So when will you be in the Crownlands?’ he asked Arya before she entered her car.

Sansa was already inside waiting for her. Jon found it surprising that she seemed to get along well with Dany slightly better than Arya herself.

‘My semester starts in a month’ Arya replied.

Jon gave her a hug. ‘Well I will see you then.’

Arya smiled before she turned into the car.

‘Arya…’ he called after her, Arya turned around gingerly appraising him with a look. ‘Robb had a wife and child?’

The pained reaction his sister gave him broke his heart.

Arya nodded. ‘Her name was Talisa.’

Jon nodded before shutting the door as the Lexus sped away with a feeling of guilt looming for the brother he had hated for so long.

Jon lay in his bed, his pad in his hand. Reading an article that was four years old online.

Dany entered the room and dramatically kicked off her heels as if they were a bug that landed on her foot.

‘Next dinner I host, I am wearing Gucci slippers. I can’t live like this’ she said as she crashed into his lap and nuzzled beneath his chin.

Jon shifted the pad and turned his attention to her face and kissed those red lips.

‘Kids asleep?’ he asked.

Dany’s eyes were shut but she shook her head.

‘They want to fries and a ice cream’ she said with a laugh opening her eyes and searching his expression.

Jon shook his head in disapproval. Not at them wanting food when it was past their bedtime but at the choice of food in itself.

‘You should try it, you will like it. You don’t even need a spoon for the ice cream just dip them’ Dany added with a cheery tone.

Jon snorted.

‘Thanks but I’m not a terrorist love’ Jon replied evenly. ‘A bit late for the girls don’t you think considering we already had dessert?’

She agreed of course. Dany was always the more disciplinarian when it came to their daughters and Jon was the one who caved to their whims.

‘It is but they were well behaved tonight and seemed to hit it off with Grenn and Karsi’s children’ she stated with a distant look.

Jon studied her for a moment whilst she caressed his chest through the unbuttoned part of his shirt.

‘Catelyn was rather quiet when we had dessert earlier’ he commented as he searched her gaze. Her blue eyes became steely confirming his suspicions.

Jon kept watching her whilst waiting for her to explain and she finally relented.

‘You know when I met her at the funeral I couldn’t coincide the woman who greeted me and the woman you described’ she said.

Jon nodded knowingly. ‘But today we were sitting in my dressing room. Sansa wanted to peruse my winter collection and she was making her jabs thinking she was being subtle but I noticed. I remained cordial until I didn’t. You know the information Tyrion passed onto us?’ she asked him.

He nodded.

‘Well her family is clean but her sister, a widow of some Governor in the Vale. Well let’s just say when it comes to taxes she has something in common with the greatest football player of all time’ she said with a teasing smile.

Jon rolled his eyes at the statement but it still came as a surprise that Lysa was a tax evader.

‘What did you say to her?’ Jon asked her.

She smirked tauntingly.

‘It’s not what I said but what I implied should she continue to prove disrespectful’ she stated with curt lips.

He loved that fierce side of her, how she could become terrifying and focused when someone tried to fuck with them.

‘Well since you did all that, I might as well go downstairs and make sure they prepare ice cream and fries for the rest of you’ he said.

Dany protested him leaving her side by the way she held him back.

‘We can just tell them to bring it up’ she said as she grabbed his pad. Jon rushed to stop her but she had opened the story he had been reading.

‘Since when do you read the Darry Gazette?’ Dany asked him, her eyes scrunching at the fact that he was swiping through a Riverlands news website.

He saw her mouth the words in the headline. “Northern Senator’s son’s wife, Talisa Stark and unborn child die in hospital after a severe car crash in the Twins”

Dany looked up at him.

‘Robb?’ she asked him.

Jon nodded.

‘Is that what you and your father were arguing about?’ Dany asked him.

He sighed.

‘Amongst other things. Robb had asked for my forgiveness and I all but spat in his face. Dear old dad didn’t like that and he used that as a weapon to try and make me feel guilty’ he said with a frown.

Dany studied him and Jon felt slightly uncomfortable.

‘And do you feel guilty?’ she asked him softly.

He wanted to deny it, claiming that he was right to be angry and want nothing to do with them but he couldn’t lie to Dany.

‘I don’t know. I hate Robb but I don’t want this for him or the people that love him. Arya kept something like this a secret even though she loves Robb and she did it because she didn’t want to upset me’ he said with a sigh. 

She gave him an understanding look.

‘You have every right to feel angry and if you want to make peace with your family then I will support you but that doesn’t change the fact that he did what he did. And maybe my instincts are judging him too quickly but I gathered all I need to know when I saw him at the store earlier today’ she replied bitingly.

He knew there was more she wasn’t telling him but he didn’t need to ask. If there were instincts that he would trust then they were Dany’s.

Jon patted her thigh before standing up.

‘Then let us speak no more of the Starks. I will head downstairs and make them prepare food for all my favorite girls so that you can tapper your disgusting eating habits. Do you want anything else?’ he asked her with a smile.

She nodded before giving him an extensive list.

Jon walked into the kitchen were people were scurrying about to clean everything.

He thanked the event planner for the evening before the woman went to the Chef and bellowed out that more food needed to be made.

Jon relaxed into the steel stool and leaned into the large conveyor belt that was used as a giant oven. His kitchen was one that would probably be used for high sized functioning hotels let alone a house.

The caterers and waiters kept passing by him with reverence and he gave them each polite smiles. A few of them were young hopeful students looking to earn a buck.

He pulled out his pad and decided to call Sam to tell him to personally tip each of them for their service tonight. He felt rather sentimental considering his second favorite sister would be a college girl soon just like those who were working.

Jon glanced briefly at a tray of dishes and being put into the large sink were a woman was washing them.

Oddly enough when he looked at the woman, she turned away and it seemed as if she was trying to shrink and hide her head away from Jon. That was definitely peculiar.

He was brought back to earth by Sam and his assistant’s confusion was blatant in his tone.

“To their personal accounts?” was the question.

Jon rolled his eyes and replied yes. He would tell the company to do it but he didn’t trust that they would personally accrue the money given to the cater waiters.

‘Ten grand for each employee tonight’ he said.

Sam knew better than to argue with Jon and Jon hung up after giving him an order.

He looked at the chef who seemed unhappy that he still had more shit to do. He wanted to laugh but his eyes drifted back to the woman doing the dishes. There was something familiar about her stance.

Jon was given no time to dwell on it as the chef came, gone was the aggressive frown on his face and now he had a courteous smile.

‘Sorry I wanted to confirm if you wanted your tramezzini with lamb or beef?’ the chef asked.

He smiled courteously.

‘Lamb, with the peas and onions’ it wouldn’t be as good as the pie old Nan use to make but he would compromise for some Northern delicacy before he leaves tomorrow.

The chef nodded but there was loud pang as a pot fell to the floor.

The woman who was washing the dishes had somehow dropped a silver pan to the ground.

His gentlemanly instinct kicked in and he almost rushed to help her pick it up but he paused when he saw her pick it up herself.

The way she knelt down had been way too similar to the girl who would always kneel down to sip water from a tap because she knew that gross boys in their high school would take it as an opportunity to peak at her skirt.

Jon shook his head in recognition.

‘Damn it Toll what is up with you today? You’ve been acting scared ever since we arrived. Get it together, the client is here’ the even planner said beratingly.

The surname was all the confirmation he needed. It stupefied Jon that Winterfell was one of the largest cities in the world. Larger than a lot of countries and yet it appeared as if everyone lived in the same neighborhood considering he kept meeting people from his past.

It had been a long time since he had seen Valerie Toll and Jon couldn’t fathom the coincidence of her being here.

He walked towards them as she muttered an apology to the event planner.

‘Val?’ he said.

He saw her release a breath as if the worst thing that could happen had happened.

Val turned around and there were three looks painted on her face. Hesitance, fear and embarrassment.

‘Hey Jon’ she said in a small voice that didn’t sound like Val. She was still beautiful, despite her hair being tied back in a hairnet.

Though once upon a time he would have fallen at her feet because of her beauty, now it did nothing to him. Dany had a large part to play in that.

‘I didn’t know you were working the dinner’ he said not knowing how to speak to her.

She nodded ruefully.

‘I thought it was best to hide my presence’ she sounded so meek. Not the confident girl from high school. It actually seemed as if their roles were reversed when he was the meek and quiet one.

Jon just nodded whilst the event planner stared back and forth between the two of them.

‘So you’re a waiter now?’ he asked her with a confused expression.

She shook her head almost too quickly.

‘No, my little sister had a test and she didn’t want to cancel her shift because she would never get another one. So I decided to be a good big sister and fill in for her, I didn’t realize the dinner would be here’ she explained.

Jon nodded thoughtfully, it made more sense. While this would be his atypical revenge of the nerds moment were he got back at the hot girl for hurting him. Val was always one of the bright people in their class. It’s one of the reasons why they became good friends and how he developed his crush before they started dating in 11th grade. And before what happened with Robb.

‘How is Nora? Last I saw her she was playing with Arya’ Jon commented.

A true smile finally gleamed on her face.

‘She is now in college’ Val replied.

‘And yourself’ Jon asked.

Val grinned with embarrassment.

‘I’m a campaign manager for future President Mance Rayder’ she said more assuredly. She sounded a lot more like the Val he knew.

Jon only nodded, not wanting to burst her bubble that his father and perhaps Governor Bolton were the front runners.

‘Well I will let you get back to it’ he said.

She nodded

‘We should get a cup of coffee some time’ she stated.

He wanted to cut her off, tell her that he was good. But he steeled himself when he heard Ally and Lizzie shouting joyously. He would not let his daughters see him riled up.

Jon gave her his number courteously before he felt two arms wrap around his lower abdomen. He looked down to see his daughter smiling wildly at him.

Lizzie had on her Louis Vuitton pajamas.

‘Daddy, mommy said you are trying ice cream and fries with us’ she said with a bright smile.

He turned to see Dany and Ally thank the chef before smiling at him. He looked down to Lizzie and pinched her noise.

‘Your mother is telling you lies’ he said before he scooped her up.

She giggled as she clutched her little hands around his neck. Jon turned and nodded to Val who had been assessing the whole scene.

He walked to his wife and daughters not noticing the look of longing Val had for him before it transformed into envy as she stared at Dany.

They all went to eat upstairs and Jon enjoyed the tramezzini as it filled him up whilst further reading on the accident that had claimed Talisa’s life.

His phone rang and he saw Sam’s name pop up.

‘Yeah?’ he said as Dany inched closer to him.

‘I got the names and numbers. I just need your authorization to finish the payments’ Sam uttered.

Jon thought to his encounter with Val, to seeing someone he thought he would never see again. A petty part of him knowing that Val would be gaining from this.

‘I have changed my mind, cancel that shit.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters won't usually be this long. I plan to make them shorter so updates can be quicker.
> 
> Dany's Pov is next as they get back to their life in the Crownlands.
> 
> Tell me what you think, unless it's nothing nice then keep it to yourself. 
> 
> Thanks for reading


	4. Business As Usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany handles business when she encounters someone from her past.

****

_"Christian Dior Denim Flow, I told her I'm trying to eat out so what we going to dinner for...' Kanye Omari West_

**Dany**

It felt good to be back in the Crownlands, though she was a Valyrian born and raised on the state of Dragonstone. Dany had made a home here in this large country.

Jon and Dany both owned countless properties with different homes that they could circulate if need be.

And whilst Ice & Fire had many offices throughout the world, the main office they worked at was the one in Kings Landing, the capital city of the Crownlands.

It was also an added relief to be away from the North, if not for her husband’s sake. His mood had immediately lifted when they left the snowy republic and landed into sunnier shores.

Though even in their private jet she could tell his thoughts were distracted with his family.

Much like her thoughts were distracted with her own.

Thoughts of her mother who would be in the Crownlands sometime this week even today. Especially after they told Jorah that Dacey would be arriving at the end of the week.

While Jorah has a complicated relationship with his family, a trait that she shared with many of the people in her inner circle. Safe to say that Jorah was fond of his sister and would want to help with regards to whatever news she was bringing.

But as of now she was back into the swing of work.

They had arrived in the morning and Jon had offered to take the girls home to Allyria. Usually she would leave them with a nanny or Ashara but her mother in law was currently celebrating her anniversary with Davos in the Stormlands and Allyria had offered.

She would have headed straight to the office but a phone call from her assistant Missandei had made her inform the driver to change route before she arrived at the seven seasons, an expensive hotel that they owned.

Dany double checked on her pad and confirmed with Missandei if the information was accurate and she bit back a laugh at the person she was about to meet. She knew that Salladhor Saan was still sour after their business in Qarth but for that sourness to lead to the stupidity she was watching before her, it made her chuckle.

The doorman opened her car door and Dany gave him a smile.

‘Ms. Targaryen your visits are very few’ Gary said with a smile.

‘Perhaps you should visit me instead Gary’ she said to the sweet old man who had worked here for over thirty years.

He laughed.

‘Shall I tell them you have arrived madam?’ he asked courteously.

She shook her head.

‘No there is someone in the lounge I want to see. An old friend from college who seemed to have tangled up in my business’ she said. 

Yves Saint Laurent coat on with her Antonio Berardi dress and her Versace heels on. She strutted forward like she owned the place, which funny enough, she did.

The manager, whose name escapes her, she never made a habit of knowing the operations of the establishments she owned. She only knew Gary because he was a sweet old man that was there when both Jon and she took ownership of the lease. The manager himself made an effort to bend over backwards babbling on about the hotel and various celebrities that had come to stay here.

She eventually brushed him off only asking if he was still there and the manager confirmed.

She saw him in the lounge seated in one of the chairs with a laptop on his lap typing away and a Mai Tai on the table. This past week had felt like the past had been trying to find her, what with people she hadn’t spoken to in so long coming and popping up.

Dany bit down her annoyance knowing she would have him crumbling at her feet when she left.

‘Last time I saw you, you had a blue streak in your hair’ she said as she took the opposite seat, a plush cushion chair that had her sitting upright whilst smooth jazz was playing in the background.

Daario looked up and his eyes widened as if she were the last person he would ever expect to see. He then smiled before he stood up in a suave fashion.

‘And last time I saw you was in Econ’ he replied, his eyes roamed her subtly with a hint of reverence that the Daario from ten years ago would never had possessed.

She sat down as a waiter came to get her order. Daario clapped his hands as if he were at a loss for words.

‘You look like a million bucks’ he complimented once again eyeing her up and down, his expression still not knowing what to settle on.

She gave him a quaint smile and a raised brow.

‘Only a million?’ she asked him with a curt tone. ‘I must be having a bad hair day then.’

He laughed, a little forcefully even though she wasn’t joking.

Daario settled his hands into the armrest of the cushion he was sitting on, the bit of bravado that she knew from her time at Oldtown was now rearing its head.

Daario had been a brief fling during orientation when she had arrived at college, one she quickly ended when she realized his shortcomings. He hadn’t taken her dumping him well and he became morosely petty, it wasn’t aided by the fact that a week after she had started dating Jon due to their instant connection. Something that had rubbed his ire.

She hadn’t truly cared because he had been a fling that turned into an annoyance and even after having not seen him for ten years, he had become an annoyance once again.

‘Well you look great, you always look great’ he said with a sly turn of his lip. ‘A shame you settled down in Varsity with that dullard of a man.’

‘That dullard of a man is the youngest male billionaire in Westerosi history’ she replied sharply.

Daario shrugged and muttered ‘touché’ though Dany could detect a teasing tone within his voice.

She narrowed her eyes at him as the waiter brought her the drink she ordered.

‘I am not here to trade pleasantries Daario. I have far better things to do’ she said.

Daario smiled.

‘Oh I know, multibillion dollar conglomerate, everybody whispers your name’ he said as he sipped his drink.

‘Including you’ she said pointedly her eyes as sharp as daggers. ‘You have been using my name to get clients without my knowledge or consent.’

He had the decency to not deny it and gave her a patronizing smirk.

‘I have a firm, the Second Sons…’ she wasn’t interested in his explanation.

‘I don’t give a shit about your firm. You have been using my name without my permission’ she said.

His irksome smile was gone and a small frown painted his face but his eyes were still dancing like this was a game to him.

‘It’s called networking love. Your name has weight worldwide and I only stated that we went to the same Alma matter which was good enough for the clients’ he argued.

Dany leaned back in her seat as she saw others enter the lounge. In retrospect she didn’t truly care if he used her name, that wasn’t why she was here but she needed him sharp and on the edge for her to nail him in the head.

‘I get it, you are using my name to pave the way for you, and the only problem is I don’t pave the way for people. They pave the way for me’ she said. ‘That’s how things work.’

Daario had started to smile again. He always loved undermining her and she counted on it to exploit his motives.

‘And that is why I did it, I also wanted to get your company’s attention’ he said as he crossed his ankle on his lap into a formal sitting position.

Missandei had informed her as such.

‘There are better ways than using my name to garner business’ she said.

Daario shrugged his hands.

‘I thought it would send a better message if I showed what my firm can achieve working under you’ he said.

She decided to reel him in knowing he had no true interest in them working together, he just wanted her firm to buy them out.

‘Well I am not interested in your business and when it comes to my multibillion dollar conglomerate, my name is not the only one on the door. That dullard of a man runs it with me and we have no interest in hiring mercenaries’ she said as she took in her drink.

Daario chuckled with some affront and she knew she was prickling at his ego.

‘We’re not mercenaries; we’re consultants’ he replied with a smirk.

She raised a brow.

‘A pig’s ass is still pork, is it not? So I am here to give you a warning, do not use my name ever again. My husband and I do not want any dealings with the Second Sons; we don’t deal with small firms’ she said as she angled to stand up.

Daario flinched his jaw in anger just as she had predicted. Ego was always his downfall and from what Missandei had told her that hadn’t changed much.

She almost had him.

‘So that’s what this is about?’ Daario asked. ‘Your husband is jealous; he was always too weak for you.’

She giggled; a part of her wished Jon had come with her.

‘If you truly believed that then you would have used both of our names but you know better and you know he would rinse you out if you even uttered his name. I should be doing the same but I am choosing to be merciful, we used to be friends after all. Now take the warning, I don’t want to hear about you or your shitty little firm or there will be consequences.’

She stood up now getting ready to walk away. She had attacked his pride, she knew and even though he tried to hide it with a playful smile, the scowl was evident.

‘Still as fiery as I remember. Well I was hoping to lure you out and gain an alliance with your company. It’s the reason why I left Mereen. But if I can’t get your funding for my firm then I guess it’s up to plan B’ he said.

Dany smiled before she schooled her face into a neutral expression.

‘And what is that?’ she asked as if she didn’t know he was about to leverage her.

Daario looked down on her.

‘You recently purchased the Harpy and you bought ninety five percent of their share holdings. We bought the other five percent. If you had taken ownership of the Second Sons then all of the Harpy would have been yours and all it would cost you was two hundred million. But now that you have pissed me off, the price is now three hundred million’ he said before smirking. ‘Hell we used to have sex and you’re pretty good in bed so I will settle for two hundred and ninety nine million. I mean you do look like a million bucks after all’

Dany gave him a chaste smile in offense but secretly she was happy. The Harpy was worth up to a billion and she had managed to scoop up most of the shares but the five percent had been purchased by someone else due to Tyrion making a mistake. There was a moment of worry that Tywin or the Hightowers had purchased it but she then got news of the Second Sons and of Daario using her name to garner business. A little digging by Missandei during the weekend exposed what was really going on.

‘The five percent means nothing. We have ninety five percent of the holdings that means we have the majority of the voting rights, more rights to the capital and all the profits. Your worth is as good as a silent investor.’

Daario nodded in a patronizing fashion and she knew the next threat he was about to make.

‘That is true and legally I would need your permission along with your husband considering you have the majority shares and all’ he stepped closer to her. ‘But I am also legally allowed to market and proliferate my own shares as is my right and you know what that means.’

She did know what he meant despite the smirk she wanted slap off his face. Whilst Daario couldn’t really do anything with his five percent ownership when it came to the Harpy, he was allowed to advertise his shares in any manner he wanted to as long as if he had the intention of making more money. But advertising shares was a broad term and he could do many things with that broad horizon; he could decrease the value in the hope of pressurizing them to buy him out or he could dump his stock if need be. Basically he could hurt the value of the Harpy if they didn’t give him the money that he wanted.

Something that Missandei had told them.

‘You would risk earning money from your five percent ownership just so you can get more money up front?’ she asked him.

Daario smirked.

‘Well the shares cost fifty million added with inflation and the value of the Second Sons. I think a return of three hundred million is more than fair’ he said with a shrug.

Dany smiled at him now. The offer wasn’t fair at all but she now had him, though she wanted to give him an out one more time.

‘Daario your offer is bullshit. The Second Sons is a billion dollar organization and your five percent cost fifty million. You want me to pay an extra two hundred fifty million’ she said with a neutral tone.

Daario shrugged.

‘The extra two hundred fifty million is for you purchasing the second sons’ he said with a placating smile.

So much was true but what he wasn’t telling her was that even if she wanted to purchase the second sons, she knew that Daario and his partners would take all their employees and clients and start afresh with more capital now and leave her with a company that basically does nothing. She would have wasted two hundred and fifty million on nothing.

Dany stared at him, he had a cocky smile on his face as if he were dealing with a child and she couldn’t hold it any longer and she sat down back in the chair and started laughing.

Daario’s smile evaporated into concern and he looked at her as if she were strange.

‘Do you know who I am Daario?’ she asked him with a mocking smile. ‘Do you know who my husband is?’

Daario shifted his head slightly at her sharper and more relaxed tone.

‘Clearly you don’t. Ice & Fire is worth up to 114 billion. That’s how much Jon and I are worth, Lanniscorp and Hightower Inc. are the only firms in Westeros that are worth more. Do you honestly think I give a fuck about three hundred million. One of the many companies we own in Sothoryos makes that revenue within a month.’

She then stood up and angled towards him.

‘Do you think you’re the first man who has tried to pull this stunt on me? I mean I do applaud your secrecy because we did scramble to find who took the five percent but here’s the thing Naharis. I know your firm fronts as consultants but their main source of profit is shakedowns. You pull stunts like this before changing your name and leaving with a profit but if you are trying it with me then it means you have tried it with others… yeah I know what you do.’

Daario gulped nervously.

‘And I also found out that from the scams you’ve pulled, the Second Sons are only worth 7,5 million. God that’s embarrassing. That’s my gardener’s salary by the way. But since that’s your firm’s worth then that means it’s virtually impossible for you to be able to cough up fifty million for the shares in the first place. I know you colluded with Salladhor Saan, a very wealthy man with an axe to grind against my husband, to make it seem like he gave you a loan when he didn’t give you anything and when the shares were offered you agreed to pay the installment at the end of this month. You know that’s fraud right, you could end up in jail. My father did the same thing and it ruined our family’ she said.

Daario’s eyes went red, his mouth panting.

‘It’s a good thing that my assistant sniffed this out and we paid the fifty million installment along with the fine, so no crime was actually committed. But the fine is sufficient proof to show you and Sallahdor were both parties to fraud and we both know that this is all the ammunition that the governments in Mereen and Qarth need to swallow you both. Saan has been hiding from his country in Mereen but they won’t be able to protect him once I report this’

Daario glared at her as she took a sip of her drink through her straw.

‘What is it you want?’ he asked with his voice hoarse. ‘If you wanted us in jail we would have been there already.’

She leaned forward and straightened his blazer.

‘Salladhor Saan’s holdings are worth ten billion. Jon and I want them, he’s going to transfer his shares to us at no cost or I go to the DA in Mereen and show them the file and his ass will be deported back to Qarth where he won’t last long’ she said with a bright smile. ‘And you will spend your days locked in Dragon’s Bay Penitentiary.’

Daario looked like a cornered animal.

‘He won’t go for it, you’re taking all he has worked for’ Daario stated.

Dany arched her head back.

‘Not everything. We’re taking nine point five billion, he can have five hundred million’ she said, this time not hiding her grin.

A small glint shone in Daario’s eyes.

‘You’re giving him five percent?’ he asked her.

She nodded with a smirk and grabbed her bag.

‘I mean it’s only fair considering he tried to take five percent of the Harpy.’

‘Our offer is valid up until 10 am tomorrow in which I expect to see his lawyers with their papers ready’ she said. ‘And if he does then I will clear your debt with the others you scammed.’

She made a few steps before he called out to her.

‘Is this what the two of you did with Stannis?’ he asked, it was the first time he referred to them as the power couple they were though the question made her pause. ‘I’ve heard the rumors.’

She looked down briefly.

‘Get the deal done Daario and you can stay in the hotel as long as you like, I own it and it’s free of charge’ she replied. ‘I mean we use to have sex after all.’

Daario nodded at her condescending tone, all the bravado that shone earlier was now gone.

‘How can I be sure that you won’t turn around and report the fine anyway after you get what you want?’ Daario asked.

Dany shrugged.

‘The same way I’m sure that you don’t have a choice.’

Her Mercedes pulled up at the large glass offices of Ice & Fire with Missandei waiting for her downstairs by the elevators.

They had countless offices scattered around the world and quite a few in the Crownlands. The office in Kings Landing was one of the largest office parks. The driver opened the door and she smiled at Missandei holding her pad.

‘Did you have fun?’ her assistant asked.

She shrugged.

‘I wouldn’t call it fun’ she replied. Missandei pressed her lips hiding her smile.

Whilst Jon had a love hate relationship with his assistant Sam, that mostly bordered on hate. Missandei was her closest friend and with the exception of Jon, she trusted no one more than her.

‘You did a great job on this by the way. Thanks to you we now have Salladhor by the balls’ she stated with a smile.

Missandei nodded courteously.

‘Jon already gave me his praises’ Missy stated as if she was adverse to praise though she didn’t miss the proud glint in her eyes.

‘As he should, we might add nine billion to our value with no consideration. That’s impressive’ she said as they walked to elevator.

They entered the elevator and she pressed the button for level sixty four, the highest floor known as the executives’ floor. Using the elevator was a nice change of pace because ever since Jon got his aviator license, they had been landing their choppers on the roof.

‘So how was your weekend in the Northern Republic?’ Missandei asked.

Dany sighed as if exhausted.

She began recounting her tale in the North from the funeral to meeting the Starks.

‘I don’t know Missy, it feels like our past is just rearing its head to both Jon and I, I mean I haven’t seen Daario in years and now he just pops up. I don’t like it’ she said before looking at Missandei hesitantly. ‘I spoke to my mother as well.’

Missandei who had been multitasking by listening to her suddenly stopped typing on her pad.

‘Oh, she called you?’ Missy asked.

Dany shook her head.

‘No I called Jorah and she was there’ she replied.

Missandei kept quiet having known the complexities of her family history and knew how difficult it was for her to speak on this.

‘I told her if she wants to be a part of my life and my daughters’ then she can’t associate with my father or my brother’ she said whilst looking down.

Missandei clasped her hand in a tight frown.

‘Good’ Missy said with steel in her tone. ‘I know you want her in your life but that’s a more than fair thing to ask. Your father is a piece of shit, your brother as well.’

Dany nodded knowing were Missandei stood on the topic though that small feeling of uncertainty was in her stomach. She knew her mother loved all her children and her sentence had broken their family more than was expected. Her eldest son basically abandoned them and never contacted them again, Viserys who got tormented by their father use to lash out and take his anger out on her to the point where he physically and emotionally hurt her. She didn’t want to dwell in the past and think of the biggest villain of them all, her father. Jorah would be arriving this week to see his sister Dacey and her mother would tell her if she was with her or not.

But she really hoped that she would be with her.

‘What does Jon think of all this?’ Missy asked her.

‘He feels the same way you do but he supports me in whatever I choose’ she said.

Missandei nodded though it looked like she wanted to say more.

‘How was your weekend?’ she asked Missandei trying to distract herself.

A smile formed on her friend’s face.

‘You know Grey from our financial securities unit?’ Missandei asked.

Dany nodded.

‘He’s in our consideration for our next CFO’ she replied. Missandei bit her lip and Dany immediately knew.

‘He asked you out?’ she squealed. Missandei nodded.

Dany bit back her giggle as the elevator door opened. ‘And what did you two do?’

‘Many things’ Missandei replied with a blush.

Dany giggled knowingly.

‘You two had sex’ she said with a smile.

Missandei shushed her as the elevator door opened though she had a wide smile.

‘At least tell me if it’s big?’ Dany asked knowing she was breaking so many rules by speaking about her employee in such a manner.

Missandei then proceeded to fill her in on how Mr. Nudho filled her in.

She found Jon in his office seated in his chair, his gaming station was switched on and to the casual person they could easily assume he was playing basketball on the 125 inch screen that was opposite his desk.

But she knew her husband better than that, despite his stern and calm demeanor, Jon was usually noisy when he played video games. Especially NBA, mostly because he sucked at it. The game was paused and Jon was reading something with his brow furrowed.

‘Hey’ she said as she moved closer to him to get a look at whatever had him so engrossed.

He looked up adorably and gave her a sweet smile that always made her weak at the knees.

She looked at the headline and read the first few words on the pad before he locked the screen.

‘Who’s Maegyr?’ she asked with interest.

Her husband shrugged but he failed to keep his poker face on.

‘Some family that owns a lot of private health centers in Volantis’ he replied.

That made her raise a brow.

‘You thinking of conducting business there?’ she asked him.

Jon shook his head and gave her a chaste smile, he had been doing that quite a bit particularly when the Starks came up. She didn’t question it though, knowing Jon had his way of dealing with things. So she let it go and picked up the controller.

‘Let me beat you in this game quickly’ she said as she changed the topic.

Jon gave her a squinted smirk as if it was impossible despite knowing that she would demolish him. He grabbed his controller.

‘Sam informed me minutes ago that Salladhor’s attorneys are on a flight and would be here at eight am to transfer their rights to us’ Jon said whilst selecting his team.

She smiled whilst looking for a low rated team so that she could embarrass him when she won.

‘That means Daario must have called him weeping as soon as I left’ she said.

Jon stifled a giggle.

‘I can’t even remember his face it’s been so long, all I can recall is the blue streak’ he replied.

Dany could also affirm as much.

‘He’s actually super-hot’ she commented and laughed when he scowled at her for picking a one star team but Jon ever so prideful did the same not wanting her to brag to others that she could beat him with a lowly rated team.

‘Well being a prick keeps you handsome’ he said as he set up his team. ‘But it’s kind of funny considering that you used to be in love with a man that dyed his hair blue.’

Jon chortled at her scowl.

‘I wasn’t in love with him and we barely dated’ she said in protest.

‘You sure?’ he mocked and she knew he was doing this to take her attention of the game. ‘Opened your legs to a man that had hair the color of toothpaste.’

Dany arched her eyes at him in challenge.

‘You’re one to talk, we literally had dinner with your ex yesterday, are you honestly trying to shame my taste. Daario had blue hair but at least he was attractive. What’s your excuse Dornish boy?’ she said with a giggle as the game started and she started tapping the controller furiously.

Jon’s eyes were on the screen.

‘Hey Ygritte was attra… well she’s pretty’ he half-heartedly protested and bit his lip in concentration as he tried to do a layup, which she intercepted easily.

‘She is but I’d get some work done on those teeth and those feet, for someone with a surname called Giantsbane it’s clear her family didn’t kill all the giants when you consider her gigantic ass toes’ she said. Jon paused and started laughing before fixing her with a glare.

‘I know what you’re doing you think you can distract me with jokes so you can win?’ he asked in a challenging tone.

She grinned back, ’you started it.’

They played more matches and predictably he lost most of them.

‘I wish I could have come with you. I love a good shake down’ he said.

She nodded in agreement whilst biting her lip at the missed chance in the game.

‘Yeah but he would have felt less emboldened if you were there and I wouldn’t have been able to corner him like I did if you were there’ she replied.

He nodded slightly.

‘Salladhor must be fuming ‘ he said. ‘I’m surprised he is relenting so easily.’

‘Well it’s either that or he goes back to Qarth and loses his life. And I suspect he values his life over his life’s work’ she stated.

Jon paused the game and she stared at him with a frown because she was about reach sixty points.

‘Missandei really came through on this, she deserves a promotion’ he said.

She agreed.

‘She does’ she replied.

‘Bringing in nine billion this side of the ledger deserves an executive promotion don’t you think’ he said, his voice had slightly lowered which meant he was edging towards something.

Dany regarded him.

‘All the chief executive roles are taken except CFO and CIO but that’s not exactly her expertise’ she said.

Jon nodded knowingly.

‘Then we give her an already taken position, one that would suit her well’ he said with a pointed look.

Dany shook her head as soon as she realized what he meant.

‘No, absolutely not’ she said.

Jon sighed in that way that he did when he thought someone was being unreasonable.

‘Dany the only reason that five percent was missing in the first place was because he didn’t place a bid to pay for it’ he said with raised arms.

He looked pristine in his Ralph Lauren shirt and Tom Ford suit along with his Vincero watch, she could see that J.S was in the chronograph. Though as good as he looked, she would not be this easily distracted.

‘Tyrion made an honest mistake, one that has raised our value by upwards of ten billion’ she said.

Jon didn’t seem to agree.

‘And if Missandei hadn’t spotted that the Second Sons didn’t have enough capital to buy the five percent then there was a chance that we would be paying Daario three hundred million’ he said as he put the controller down. ‘Not to mention the fact that we both trust Missandei and like I said, she just brought up to ten billion to our side.

She gave him a frown.

‘Tyrion has brought us way more. My original point still stands.’

Jon nursed his temples and took a breath perhaps knowing that a shouting match will achieve nothing.

‘I know you care about him and I am not saying we need to throw him to the wolves but Tyrion has been of two minds this past year. His obsession with beating his father…’ he mentioned as he stepped closer to her.

This had been her concern as well but she was not quelled.

‘And you’re afraid of picking a fight with Tywin?’ she asked.

Jon shook his head incredulously.

‘No I’m just not in the mood to pick a fight with Tywin, I will leave that to the Hightowers. And that isn’t my problem with Tyrion, he could pick a fight with a Septon and I wouldn’t mind it as long as he wins the fight. He won’t win against Tywin and you know why.’

She did know why.

‘Jaimie Lannister’ she said as she sat down in one of couch leather chairs in his office.

Jon raised his hands in supplication. She knew he had a point but Tyrion had been with them for the longest time.

‘He’s like family’ she weakly protested.

Jon nodded in understanding.

‘And that’s why we should do this now before he does something to screw it up. He’s motivated to beat his father but at the same time he doesn’t want to hurt Jaimie, the same man that Tywin is grooming to take over. His suggestion for us to merge with Lanniscorp so that we take it from the inside and now this, I don’t like it. We have months until the next quarterly meeting to decide. I just wanted you to think about it’ he said.

Dany nodded as Jon squeezed her arm.

‘Now let me beat you properly, I wasn’t ready when we played those other matches’ he said as he took his controller with a determined expression that made her roll her eyes and laugh.

Before she could retort, the glass office door opened and a voice called out to them.

‘Don’t you two have work to do’ Allyria said as she sauntered in, she was the image of her mother. Dark hair, plump lips and dark eyes. One would wonder if Allyria had gotten anything at all from Davos but that is until she opened her mouth. The same cheery and whippy attitude that Davos possessed had been transferred to his daughter.

Dany smiled at the girl.

‘Ally after all the money we made, if we have to work then I dare say that we’re not doing our jobs’ she replied.

Allyria went and sat next to Jon and put her feet on the table.

‘I thought you were watching over the girls?’ Jon asked his little sister.

Ally leaned back in the large chair whilst leaning on Jon.

‘They’re in the cinema room down the hall’ Ally replied, her eyes then darted to something at the door. ‘Can you believe that? Not only do the owners of the place play video games, they have fucking cinema. Whilst the real employees get down and dirty.’

Dany turned her eyes to the person at the door.

A girl with olive skin was standing at the door with her hands held together. She had brown eyes just like the other two in the room which was a dead giveaway that she was Dornish. Though there was something about her face, it was porcelain shaped almost like Lizzie but somehow different.

Jon seemed to be seeing something as well if his face was anything to go by.

The girl herself seemed nervous and her eyes widened when she looked at Dany.

‘Jon, Dany this is my friend Rhaenys. The two of us are currently finishing our last semester at KLU’ she said.

Rhaenys was still staring at her in amazement before she blinked and looked down

‘Rhae this is my brother and my sister. They are the reason why the both of us are staying in a mansion this semester instead of campus housing’ Ally said as she waved her hands as an introduction.

Both Jon and Dany shook the girl’s hand. Rhaenys seemed to swallow her breath when she palmed her hands.

Jon then clicked his fingers.

‘I know where I know you from. Elia!’ he said.

Rhaenys looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

‘Ally you know that picture book mother has?’ Jon asked her.

Ally shook her head not recalling.

‘It’s the one she keeps from her past with her high school pictures’ he clarified.

Once again Ally shook her head which made Jon grumble.

‘Gods you’re so useless. Well you look exactly like her best friend from high school, she told me her name was Elia’ he stated.

Rhaenys kept glancing to Dany nervously.

‘Elia is my mother’ Rhaenys stated.

Jon smiled.

‘Small world then, I didn’t even know she was alive. My mother said she just up and vanished’ he replied.

Dany could see the girl was near the verge of fainting.

‘Jon stop pestering the poor girl’ she said before giving her a friendly smile.

Allyria seemed to notice her friend’s distress as well.

‘Well Rhaenys is actually a Martell’ Ally responded.

That had both their brows raised.

‘Really?’ they both said in unison.

Ally nodded.

‘That’s funny because uncle Gerold is involved with the President’s daughter’ Jon stated.

For the first time Rhaenys managed a smile and Dany didn’t know why she was thinking of her mother when she saw the smile, perhaps it was just nerves knowing she would be seeing her soon.

‘That’s because I helped set them up’ Ally stated with a smirk. ‘I am worried though because Arianne is kind of high maintenance, she was even flirting with Rhaenys dad one time. I mean uncle Gerold is a dick but you know, he doesn’t deserve a broken heart.’

Rhaenys froze at the mention of her dad.

‘Uh if you excuse me I would like to go to the ladies room’ Rhaenys stated.

Ally gave Rhae a look as if she was asking the girl what was going on with her but Rhaenys promptly left.

‘Okay…’ Ally said as Rhae darted out like a frightened cat. ‘Forgive her, she acts weird when people bring up her father, he’s a failed musician and the Martell clan kind of look down on him. Rhaenys and her younger brother have to use the name Martell, I don’t even know their father’s last name. It’s a whole thing.’

Dany could certainly relate, having a complicated father. Though however bad Rhaenys father was she was sure he wouldn’t compare to her father.

‘Well if it’s a whole thing then why are you telling us?’ Jon asked her in a reprimanding tone. ‘I assume she would want you to keep that to yourself and here you are telling us like you’re bloody newscaster.’

Ally pursed her plump lips much like Jon was at the moment. A trait they inhabited from Ashara. It was a trait that her daughter Alysanne had picked up as well.

‘I can’t change who I am Jon besides I was hoping she could impress the both of you. I kind of want her to work for you’ Ally stated.

Jon regarded her.

‘Well HR is on the tenth floor that’s usually were job applications go’ he replied.

Ally stared at him.

‘Jon this is a top one percent firm. Getting an interview is difficult, I was hoping to make it easier’ Ally stated. ‘I know she seems timid and random but she has a lot of fire and she is top of our class, she actually reminds me a lot about you Dany.’

Dany scrunched her eyes.

‘Why because she has a Valyrian name?’ Dany asked her.

‘No the two of you have similar mannerisms and you both have a temper besides she is half Valyrian, her father… I forgot his name all I remember is that he is a total smoke show from Valyria’ Ally replied.

Jon snorted.

‘Does he also have an eye patch?’ Jon asked with a giggle.

Ally hit his arm playfully.

‘Hey that was a blind date and Beric was actually sweet, if he wasn’t a preacher and like fifty, who knows’ Ally said in defense much to both of their laughter.

Ally then looked at her with a plea.

‘Fine Missandei will take her, she’s been needing a new assistant’ Jon met her eyes recalling the discussion of Missandei’s new promotion.

Ally clapped.

‘What about you? Are you looking for a job?’ Jon asked.

Ally stared at Jon for a moment.

‘Fuck no. What’s the point in you having all this money if I still have to work. This degree is just for decorations’ she said.

Dany giggled but froze when she saw a message from Jorah.

_“Landed a few hours ago and are currently at the Seven Seasons. Your Uncle Aemon came with Viserys to see her”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to Kayla she makes the moodboards for the stories. We have had many arguments about them but i'm fairly happy with this one cause those two are my fancasts for Allyria and Rhaenys in all my stories. 
> 
> I hope everyone is staying safe cause this virus isn't letting up. I recently finished my exams so I have had time to update most of my stories. 
> 
> Thanks for reading


	5. The Life And Times Of Jonathon-Snow Dayne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to Kayla for the moodboard(And yes those people at the bottom are Ashara and Rhaella.).

****

_"I'm so appalled, I might buy the mall....Show me where the boats is, Ferrari Testarossas.  
The hammer went and broke so you know I'm more focused I lost thirty mill' so spent another thirty  
'Cause unlike Hammer thirty million can't hurt me" - Shawn Carter_

_"Tuxes next to the president, I'm present I dress in Dries and other boutique stores in Paris_  
In sheepskin coats, I silence the lambs, do you know who I am, Clarice?  
No cheap cologne whenever I "shh-shh". Success never smelled so sweet" - Shawn Carter

**Jon**

The golf club once again grazed the grass and it took all of Jon’s willpower not to laugh. It was actually an improvement from the first few times when Alysanne had missed the golf ball entirely, she hadn’t taken well to his laughter and gave him a glare that if it weren’t for her doe eyes, Jon might as well have been looking at Dany.

The country club estate that they were in was only exclusive to a few and Jon never really came to the place up until yesterday when uncle Arthur called for a video chat and bragged that he found a new hobby and had a mean swing on him, something that Ally took interest in.

Alysanne tried once again and she managed to make contact with the golf ball this time but in the process she took a large clump of the yard.

This time he had failed to hold back his laughter and his daughter didn’t appreciate it and he watched the four year old storm away in a huff. She was way more temperamental unlike Elizabeth who was always relaxed unless her buttons were pushed.

‘Ally wait’ he said trying to hold back his chuckle.

Ally refused to look him in the eye, her face held in a permanent frown and her arms were folded expectantly waiting for him to grovel with an apology. Something he was always willing to do given how adorable she was.

‘I’m sorry sweetling I didn’t mean to laugh’ he said as he nudged their foreheads together.

Ally relented slightly.

‘Then why were you?’ she asked. ‘It’s not nice to laugh at others Daddy when they are bad at stuff.’

Her pout remained firm even as he stroked her chin.

‘You’re right but Daddy wasn’t laughing because you’re bad. Daddy was laughing because one day you’re going to be so good that when I think of this moment it will be really funny. I was just laughing for the future when I remember this’ he said as he placed a palm to her belly.

She pondered him for a moment as she swayed in his hold before nodding as if it was an acceptable answer.

‘Now how’s about we get some ice cream and go home?’ he asked.

Ally then gave him a beaming smile as he picked her up in one hand and signaled for the catty to come fetch the clubs they left on the floor. The girl was named Myranda and she immediately darted to do as she was bid.

Jon then drove the golf cab back to the resort of the country club. The both of them had worn Polo Ralph Lauren all white from his golf shirt to his flat cap and golf shoes. Ally was similar only she was wearing a white dress and tennis shoes that were all designer.

He had wanted Dany and Lizzie to join them but Lizzie thought golf was boring and he could agree, the only thing worse than playing golf was watching it. That and cricket of course. But Ally was determined to learn, a four year old with a rather determined mind to do as she pleased and he would do anything to please her.

Whilst in the resort, Ally was chatting away to the catty that had serviced them and the catty herself was busy giving tips on how she may become a better golfer.

Jon sat in one of the chairs and was sending pictures of their brief golfing expedition to Dany to hopefully cheer her up. The past week she had been distracted, her mind not fully here contemplating on what she had to do.

He could only empathize, he wanted to talk to her about it but she was hesitant and started acting closed off. It’s something she did when they had started dating but he managed to chip down her walls and have her open up to him. Unfortunately when it came to her family, Dany was always off kilter.

After being married for almost eight years, he now knew her and he also knew when to push and when to give her space.

If it were up to him he would have made sure that Aerys ended up in a cell and soon after he would go and beat the shit out of Viserys. But it was not up to him, his rage for his wife couldn’t match up to what she truly felt. And as much as he wanted to intervene, this was Dany’s decision and he would respect it.

Whilst Jon smiled at Dany responding with a pic of her and Lizzie laughing at Ally, a figure approached where he sat.

‘Your daughter is not the next best golfer but with training she may develop a hard swing and bring us all to shame’ a silky voice came from behind him.

The man had beady eyes and dark hair. His attire indicated that he wasn’t here to golf given his pristine Hilfiger suit and his Tag Heuer watch that had a bird in it, a swallow to be more precise.

Jon groaned when he noticed the folders in his hand.

The man smiled reverently at him as he took the opposite seat.

‘You probably don’t know who I am’ the man stated in some amusement.

He frowned whilst not being in the mood for any of this.

‘Oh I know who you are, you’re the asshole with a Sean Connery accent that’s about to interrupt my private time with my daughter for some work bullshit’ he replied unamused.

The man bit his lip though his smirk didn’t abate.

‘Forgive me for that but you’re a hard man to get in touch with and it’s fortuitous that you ended up in my resort’ the man said as he dropped the bill on to the table.

Jon saw that the nine thousand dollar fee had already been paid for.

He raised his brow at the man with a scoff.

‘You paid for my bill?’ he asked seemingly unimpressed.

The man shook his head.

‘I told them to wipe it clean, I own the resort and few other properties. The name is Petyr Baelish’ Baelish stated.

Jon regarded him for a quick moment. Baelish now knew that Jon recognized him.

‘I see you’ve heard of me’ Baelish added.

‘The mayor of Kings Landing’ Jon stated acknowledging the mayor of the capital. The man bowed his head in deference as if he were charmed by his title. ‘What can I do for you Senator?’

His eyes sparkled.

‘I thought it was time we finally meet’ Baelish responded.

Jon bit back the urge to roll his eyes.

‘How conspicuous that our meeting occur in the beginning of an election year’ he said.

Baelish smiled nonetheless.

‘I have read about you along with your wife. Your rise to power as titans of industry is meteoric. No one saw it coming, least of all your peers’ Baelish stated. ‘An inspiring tale for someone like me who also came from nothing.’

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankle on to his leg to sit formally and acquiesce the man .

‘I didn’t come from nothing, my family is stock bread with public servants of the Northern Office’ he corrected him before he narrowed his eyes. ‘I’m sorry is there a point to all this?’

Baelish nodded before handing him two large folders. One had key information on him and the other on Dany.

‘Planning to update my Wikipedia page?’ he asked as he perused the files that detailed his dealings in the past from every meeting that was set to how much was spent.

‘The man who gathered these case files is named Alliser Thorne, attorney general and soon to be District Attorney of Kings Landing when the elections come about and he has taken a keen interest in you and your company’ Baelish stated.

Jon shut the file and smiled sharply at him.

‘Well he can open as many cases as he want, I have an army of Citadel attorneys under my employ that are itching to take his lunch money’ he said.

Baelish took the files back.

‘I can put a pause to his investigation on the both of you and stop any headache the man might cause’ the mayor told him.

Jon shrugged.

‘Even if he can put Sherlock on the case, we’ve committed no crimes and he will never be able to make a case’ Jon stated.

Baelish let out a small sigh and studied him for a second.

‘Fine I will be upfront with you. This isn’t about Thorne, it’s actually about the upcoming elections’ Baelish stated.

Jon snorted.

‘No shit’ he said dryly.

‘Ice & Fire hasn’t declared for anyone’ Baelish pointed out.

‘That’s because we’re not a political firm, our clients and subsidiaries have different beliefs and political ideals that they have a right to and we won’t tell them otherwise’ he said quickly, a statement that they had rehashed countless times.

Baelish accepted the drink that the waitress had given him.

‘That’s sound logic and a safe statement but I never regarded you as such’ there was a slight taunt in his tone.

‘You mean “logical”?’ Jon asked him.

Baelish shook his head.

‘No, “safe”. From what I have heard of you, you’re a risk taker, when you took the firm from the President’s Brother, it was a multi-million dollar organization and with the risks you took it’s now a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. Risks that you were able to take due to the Baratheon administration, you’ve seen many boons thanks to our president’ Baelish answered.

Jon gave him a chaste smile.

‘Robert didn’t do shit for me. My wife and I built this all on our own’ he said. He wanted to say more and chastise Baelish for even referring to Stannis as Robert’s brother because when Stannis was sentenced, Robert had made sure to distance himself from Stannis is far as possible.

Baelish still had that irksome smile though Jon could note a twitch of frustration.

‘’Look Jon we both know that Robert Baratheon is obviously going to win this…’ he interrupted Baelish before he could continue.

‘And if you were so certain he was going to win, you wouldn’t be here trying to get my money. You think I don’t know that the Hightowers are sponsoring Senator Stokeworth, I know and it’s got you all panicking because Robert’s campaign could never be matched in the first place because his first lady has a father that backs him at every step with his lunch money but now Stokeworth has Baelor Hightower funding him. And you’re worried that things are looking considerably even and you want someone to tip the scales?’ he enjoyed the brief look of shock wipe over the man’s face but Baelish ever the politician, hid it with a demure smile before clicking his fingers and waving his finger at him in an impressed fashion.

‘You got me but Robert is still the familiar and like I said, Alliser will likely become head of the District Attorney’s Office and he will be coming your way. If you help us then we can nuzzle him, if you don’t then he will have free reign’ Baelish said with a shrug. ‘The choice is yours.’

Jon leaned up in this chair.

‘Is that a threat?’ he questioned.

Baelish shrugged once again.

‘Call it the carrot or the stick approach’ Baelish responded.

He had sweet words, perhaps that was why he had become mayor in the capital city of the Crownlands but Jon was far from impressed, perhaps eight years ago he would tell him that he is considering the offer and let it be but that was a different Jon.

‘Like I said before, Ice & Fire doesn’t pick sides and if they did, it sure as shit wouldn’t be Robert or Stokeworth and all your little threat is doing is making me consider if I should go ahead and help Sunglass in his campaign. No?’ Baelish gulped at the mention of that but still maintained eye contact.

‘And if this Alliser Thorne or anyone wants to come against me or anyone in my firm then so be it but the moment they file their case then I will file mine. You all forget that I am one of the few tax paying billionaires and as such I always have a large deferred tax asset, not to mention those bloody loans I have granted to your institutions and banks that the state has borrowed from. The Crownlands government as of two years ago owed me ten billion, I am sure now it’s reached thirteen and yet not a dime has been paid and whoever wins the election will owe me, so technically I don’t have to pick sides, either side has to pick me or they will be starting a term with a defunded government. So the ball is in your court but I think it’s more apt to say that your balls are in my fist.’

Baelish remained quiet as he tapped his fingers on his armchair.

‘And that’s how you make a threat’ he said as he stood up, noticing his daughter leaving the caddy and coming towards him.

‘It’s good to see that the rumors about you are true’ Baelish stated with an impressed smile that seemed somewhat genuine.

‘I heard they call you the _White Wolf_ because you seem like an obedient lap dog but that is the stance you take before you act like a wolf and pounce for their throat. A _wolf_ in _white_ , sheep’s clothing, so to speak. I’m happy to see it in action.’

Jon pulled out his wallet.

‘Make sure the caddy gets it’ he says as he put the cash down.

‘I looked through your records’ Baelish stated as he was heading out. ‘I saw that you actually registered your name as Jon Dayne.’

‘That’s because my children are Daynes’ he replied.

Baelish nodded and Jon felt Ally wrap her hands around his waist, a sign that she now wanted to leave because she was growing bored.

‘I would imagine you would take the name Stark or at the very least not use your second name Snow when addressing the public’ Baelish prompted.

‘I’m not a Stark’ he said. Snow had been a name he had during high school, in the past it’s what Northern bastards were referred to and he wanted to spit in his father’s face when he left, not only would he be known as a Dane only, in public he would be referred to as a Snow.

Baelish moved closer to him now with a calculated look.

‘Yes but people may take it the wrong way, like your caddy for instance, this was her first day. She’s from the city of Dreadfort, a city I am sure you are familiar with considering your background, her name is Myranda and the moment you leave I am sure she will hand in her resignation and report to her real employer.’

Jon looked at the girl in shock as she stood on the counter talking to some guy.

‘I suspect the Boltons sent her to get the measure of you, hoping you would not be for your family. I apologize for letting her in, I owe Roose a favor and he is highly determined to become president of the Northern Republic’ Baelish stated.

Jon clenched his jaw and then turned his steely black eyes at the mayor.

‘Baelish you don’t want to make an enemy out of me’ he said as he regarded the man. ‘Have you heard about what happens to my enemies?’

Baelish shook his head.

‘Exactly’ he responded, inferring that those who cross him don’t just lose to him but get wiped off the radar.

‘Forgive me that’s not my intention, I simply wanted your favor. Truth be told I am only backing Robert because he wants me to be his running mate but I don’t want him to be president’ Baelish quickly answered.

Jon regarded him and realized what he wasn’t saying because to others a simple statement like that would get Baelish kicked off the Stag campaign but Jon knew he wanted the president to get impeached when they won so that as his vice, he could step in.

‘That’s a bold plan but my stance still remains the same’ he replied.

Baelish nodded.

‘I know I was just being upfront in the hopes that I may have a powerful friend in the future and hope that my help of Bolton today didn’t make an enemy of you at the very least’ Baelish stated.

Jon didn’t respond and left the man to his vices, the last thing he wanted was to get in bed with the political juggernaut of either country.

He got home to drop off Ally and she darted to Lizzie who was swimming in their indoor heated pool. Out of all their houses this was probably the one that they dwelled in the most. An eighteen bedroom mansion with ten bathrooms and four pools. There were five courts outside along with a field plus a twelve car garage.

Jon was still fuming at the Bolton informant and he didn’t like the satisfied smirk that enveloped Baelish’s face when the mayor told him.

He saw a text message from his mother telling him she was back and wanted to have lunch with both of her babies.

Jon replied but quickly set up to call someone else after his run in at the golf camp. It was a Wednesday so he knew they would all be gathered for midweek lunch. It was a sad thing that Jon didn’t have his father’s number or any of his other siblings and had to call Arya. But it is what it is.

The phone rang as Jon started changing out of his whites.

Arya answered, her voice somewhat stilled.

‘Hey Jon I can’t really talk right now, I’m in the middle of…’ he cut her off.

‘Yeah family lunch I know but I want you to put him on the phone’ he said.

‘Uh ok’ she finished, immediately knowing who he was talking about.

There were muffled voices and he could hear Arya telling him she wants to talk to him. He heard a grumble from Catelyn that made him roll his eyes before he heard his father accept the phone from Arya.

‘Jon…?’ his father asked hesitantly.

He quelled his temper knowing Bran and Rickon were there, Sansa was probably there as well.

‘I wanted to ask you a question, a hypothetical one of course. What would you if the Golden Company sent one of their employees to your court because three years ago I deleveraged their share price to purchase a building in Pentos?’ Jon asked him.

He was met with silence.

‘Or if the Iron Bank diluted the Stark trust and left you destitute because we got into a bidding war?’ Jon questioned.

More silence.

‘Or if Saan investments sent an emissary to stalk Sansa and Arya whilst they’re at college because I recently acquired Salladhor Saan’s company at a zero cost price?’ Jon asked again.

There was some confused muttering in the background of the call.

‘…Uhm Jon?’ Ned asked.

‘You wouldn’t know what to do because these are fortune five hundred firms that you don’t deal with. But I deal with them every day because it’s my business and it’s what I do. And I handle my business well, well enough that neither of those scenarios occur so if your illegitimate son can handle his business why can’t you?’ he said, his voice sharper.

There was a pause.

‘Jon what are you talking about?’ Ned asked.

‘I’m talking about Roose fucking Bolton having his lackey pretend to be my caddy whilst I’m out with my child!’ he couldn’t keep his voice down.

There was a moment of silence and if he knew his father, he knew that the man was probably nursing his temples.

‘Jon I didn’t know’ was the response.

He rolled his eyes and bit his jaw. Why was that always his response

‘Yeah and that’s the problem with you, _father._ You never know, I told you I have no interest in what’s happening with you and yet I find out about this. I had you pegged as a favorite to win this election and that if it came down to it, whoever was in your way wouldn’t stand a chance. But the fact that Roose even attempted this means that not only is he in the race, he actually has an edge because he is willing to do whatever it takes unlike you’ Jon spat.

A huff of breath was released on the other side of the call and he knew his father wasn’t taking well to his tone.

‘Jon I understand that you’re angry and I am sorry that Governor Bolton did what he did but I have worked in politics for a very long time much longer than you have been alive and I am still your father so watch your tone and treat me with respect’ there was that familiar stern tone of the Eddard Stark. A tone that Jon once would have bristled at but he was beyond caring at this point.

He arched his head back and a part of him wished that he was standing in front of him.

‘If you are such a seasoned politician then do your fucking job because if Bolton tries this shit again, I will make sure that Roose Bolton never works a day in Cabinet ever again, fuck with me, let him see and then when I am done with him, I will come after you because the only reason this is happening is because you can’t handle your business and I made it clear that I want nothing to do with the North.‘

He hung up the phone, seething as he clenched his fist.

‘I take it golfing went swimmingly’ Dany chirped from behind him as she entered the bedroom.

Jon took a deep breath to calm himself down.

‘It did until I found out that the Boltons sent an employee of theirs to come work for the resort whilst being my caddy’ he said.

Dany’s eyes tightened in a scowl.

‘Are you kidding me? Was the intention that she would seduce you?’ she asked with a bit of fire hidden in her voice. Jon shrugged unknowingly.

‘I don’t know but I have already told my father my piece’ he said as he put his phone in his Varvatos pants.

Dany nodded before a distracted haze washed over her face, the distracting quietness that had settled on her for the past week.

Usually the solution was to give her space but he couldn’t help it as he stepped forward in front of her with a gentle smile.

‘As much fun as I’ve had with you zoning in and out, I think it’s time we actually talk about what’s going on’ he said as he grabbed her hands.

She avoided his eyes whilst looking down. ‘What do you mean?’

Jon sighed at her predictability and he knew an argument was inevitable.

‘I spoke to Jorah Dany, he told me’ he said.

Dany looked up with some annoyance that was probably aimed at Jorah. ‘He told you?’ she asked.

He nodded.

‘Need I remind you that he works for the both of us and I called him because Dacey is arriving next week and I wanted to confirm if she was staying with him’ Jon stated before sighing again.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about your brother?’ he asked her with a gentle voice.

Her eyes shined though almost defensively as they crinkled.

‘I could ask you the same thing’ she replied.

He gave her a confused look.

‘If I go through your history will I find tabs on Volantis?’ she asked him and he was slightly startled. ‘I maybe blonde but I’m not stupid Jon.’

Jon bit back his jaw having no explanation for that. He had been reading about his former in laws, trying to find out everything about Robb’s wife, who she was and what she did. To get a measure of her, to know more about this big peace that was violently taken from his brother.

‘I wasn’t keeping it from you’ he said, this time it was his turn to look down.

‘You also weren’t telling me anything either’ Dany responded.

Jon let out a huff of breath as if to argue but Dany held up her hand.

‘I just need a clear head to think about everything…’ she said.

He was going to pester it some more, not liking the melancholy that dripped around her voice but his phone rang

It was Allyria who was demanding his presence at the restaurant. Dany knew as much and smiled at him.

‘Give Ashara my love, I will be with the girls’ she said as she kissed him on the cheek and Jon vowed that they would continue this later.

Jon cut through his schnitzel whilst not having the appetite to eat; he paired it off with a bottle of wine that was the stores finest.

‘… So Balerion freaked out as soon as he jumped in the Jacuzzi. It was like Wolverine when he gets the adamantium put in him and he jumps out the water in that shitty X-Men film: Origins. It was written by one of those guys that wrote that show with the dragons that had such a shitty ending’ Allyria told the both of them in that expressive way of hers that she had gotten from her father, Davos.

‘Aren’t all of X Men movies shitty?’ he asked her.

Ally shook her head in disagreement.

‘No, the original films aren’t bad but the last two are pretty terrible, not gonna lie’ Ally said with her mouth filled with lettuce. ‘Speaking of shitty X Men films, Jon do you know both your sisters have an uncanny resemblance to characters I’ve seen in the last two X Men movies I watched.’

He chuckled along with their mother who listened with amusement.

‘So this Balerion, I didn’t think you were a cat person?’ mother asked her with her dark eyes getting them back on topic to her original story about the feline before she digressed.

‘No it’s my friend Rhaenys’ Ally replied.

‘When am I going to meet this girl, she’s been your best friend in college and she’s Dornish and yet you have never introduced me. Unless your hiding her for different reasons?’ mother questioned with imploring eyes.

Ally at first didn’t catch what her mother was hinting to but then her eyes widened.

‘Oh Gods no! We’re both straight. I want you to meet her but Rhae is weird, she always gets finicky whenever I bring you or Uncle Arthur up even Dany and it’s strange cause she’s always asking loads of questions about the three of you’ Ally replied. ‘But earlier this week she met Jon and Dany’

Jon raised his head up at the mention of his name, his mother now eyeing him instead.

‘Yeah I met her briefly she seems like a nice girl. Plus it’s sweet considering how you used to be friends with her mom, I’d kill to have all four of you in one room, to show the difference of twenty five years’ he teased in a cheeky tone.

His mom gave him a confused look.

‘What are you talking about?’ mother asked him.

Ally also stared at him confusion.

‘Yeah what are you talking about?’ she asked him.

Jon stared at her for her to fill in the obvious.

‘Oh yeah that’s right, Jon was telling me that Rhaenys looked like this old friend of yours named Elia’ Ally stated nonchalantly.

Though his mother’s reaction was anything but.

‘What!?’ she asked with widened eyes.

Both Jon and Ally shared a sibling look as they looked at their bewildered mother who looked like she had heard the name of a Ghost.

‘Yeah Elia Martell’ he said. ‘Rhaenys is her daughter. Why is something wrong?’

A look he had only seen whenever she was in the presence of his father passed along her face.

‘Nothing, I would very much like to meet her’ mother stated with a small smile that hinted there was more to it then she was letting on.

Ally excused herself to go to the ladies room whilst Jon ate quietly.

He didn’t need to look up to know that his mother was eyeing him like a hawk.

‘What?’ he asked.

She shrugged before stifling a laugh.

‘You’re broody. Why?’ she asked.

He let out a sigh; an evasive answer would not work with her.

‘It’s just drama and problems despite the fact that I am vehemently trying to steer clear of all that shite, they just keep coming. Robert wants my help for his campaign but I promised myself that I would never work with the Baratheon’s again and with Robert comes the Lannisters and I’m in no mood for a fight but Tyrion definitely is so I need to cut him loose. Not to mention problems within my family, Dany’s mom got out and Dany loves her but with Rhaella comes Viserys and she doesn’t want anything to do with him, I don’t want anything to do with him but she’s paralyzed because she knows that she has to make her mother pick a side. I want to help her but she doesn’t want it. Thinks I have issues of my own’ he admitted.

His mother looked down pensively.

‘What issues?’ his mother asked.

Jon tapped the wine glass with his finger.

‘After Uncle Benjen’s funeral, Arya concocted a plan to get us altogether. As you can expect things didn’t go well and I had it out with dear old dad and he told me the news that Robb had a wife and child who died’ he said.

His mother sat straighter in the chair with a look of remorse washing over her face before she frowned.

‘You mean he used the news to make you feel guilty’ she commented.

Jon didn’t need to answer cause he knew it was rhetorical but his silence led her to more questions.

‘Clearly it’s working. Do you feel guilty?’ she asked him.

Jon stopped tapping his wine glass and put it down.

‘I could never feel guilt not after what Robb did to me’ he said.

His mother gave a weary sigh.

‘No but you can empathize with him’ she replied. He didn’t respond and instead looked around the restaurant.

Remarking on the different people that came to eat, those of a higher standing income. There was a time when he could never be able to afford any of this and he had worked so hard that now even the owner of the place knew who he was. It’s what he had been doing as he spared no thought to his relatives in the North. With no thought as to how his brother suffered something traumatic while he gained

Dany had done the same. The state of Dragonstone being no more than a footnote in her Wikipedia page stating that is where she grew up.

His mother had noticed his silence before smiling.

‘Did I ever tell you how your father and I got together?’ she asked him.

Jon shook his head.

‘It was in my first year of college, Elia had just up and vanished after our first semester. I had decided to apply for this program that allowed you to exchange with someone for a semester. Decided to go to Harrenhall and that’s were I met your father, he was doing his final year at the Vale and decided to join the program as well.’

‘He was shy, quiet and meek. Told me he had just lost his older brother and his world was turned upside down. I could relate because Elia was like my sister. We hit it off for that semester and here I was with this man that everyone kept telling me that I was out of his league but I didn’t care. He was nice and sweet and I fell for him, he came from a very established family so I knew that our commitment despite it only being a few months had to be serious. When the semester was over I thought we were going to get married come semester’s end.’

Her tone had been fond as she recounted the tale before a sad frown cropped on her face.

‘But then I went home and told father everything about Eddard Stark. Like I said back then technology wasn’t what it was, you couldn’t just go online and follow someone to find out everything you need to know about them. I was young so I didn’t read the papers but my father did and that’s when he told me that the man I had been with throughout the semester was already wed’ she clutched her fist as if recalling a painful memory. ‘I had never felt so betrayed, I couldn’t believe he had done that to me and none of his explanations mattered to me. He pleaded with me and told me that he would divorce Catelyn and marry me if he could, that his wife was going to marry Brandon but he died and they needed the Tully’s to fund Rickard’s presidential campaign. That he loved me more than Catelyn. None of that mattered to me because he betrayed me and I couldn’t forgive him but eventually I did.’

Jon regarded her.

‘When?’ he asked her.

‘I found out I was pregnant with you and I planned to raise you on my own but Rickard and Ned found out and they wanted you to be raised by both sides of your family. Ned begged me with everything he had for you to go to school in Winterfell and I couldn’t let you hate your father because of me so I forgave him and I let it go because I loved you more than anything’ she said.

Jon looked down at his wine glass.

‘And that day when Arthur surprised you with a visit during your term and told me he caught you crying cause of Catelyn…’ she had to take a breath. ‘I was ready to take you away and never let any of them see you again, but whatever Catelyn had said to you paled in comparison to when I told you that you and Robb would be separated for good. I had never seen you so hysterical.’

Jon huffed as if she were being dramatic.

‘I was child’ he responded.

She shook her head and smiled.

‘Robb was your best friend and when it comes to the people we love, forgiveness is easy’ she said. ‘And as much as I despise your father, I could tolerate him the world over because I love you.’

It was easier said than done. He bawled his fist in frustration because he couldn’t find it within himself to be the bigger person.

Why was it him that always had to be the bigger person. He always had to be the one to get over shit. He shook his head adamantly.

‘I can’t do it’ he muttered and she gave him a pointed look, one that he shook off. ‘I don’t know if what I had with Val was love because it’s miniscule in regards to what I have with Dany but at the time as a child I thought I loved her and he knew that. If I had done the same thing to him, they would act as if I had killed someone’ he paused and shifted his glass with his voice lower. ‘And you’re right we used to be best friends and even I could take Catelyn being cold to me for him but at the end of the day he ended up being worse than Catelyn because he pretended to be better. I can’t move past that even if you found it in your heart to do the same with father.’

His mother gave him a kind smile.

‘I know but I am not saying you should forgive him, I just wanted to point out why I forgave your father because I saw the bond you had with Robb and I knew I should have trusted my better instincts and just let you stay with me in Kings Landing but a mother’s love is unconditional when it comes to children. We can’t help but try and be there for them. It’s the same _for all mothers._ ’

Jon stared at her before he regarded her meaning.

‘Our situation is far different from Dany and her mother. I can’t make this decision for her’ he said.

She grabbed his hand.

‘Then help her in whatever way you can because that’s all you can do’ she said.

Jon nodded, wanting to move on and enjoy his lunch though her words were ringing in her ears.

Allyria came back and took her seat.

‘Sorry I was looking for my makeup bag so that I could powder my nose’ she said.

Jon shared an amused look with their mother.

‘”Powder my nose” is a euphemism for taking a shit’ he explained to his mother. He was rewarded with a cloth being thrown at his face along with his mother’s giggles.

It was at that moment an idea struck him

He made his way inside the seven seasons. The manager and concierge bombarding him with information in the hopes of impressing him.

But he promptly sent them away as he headed down to the room he needed to see. He held a Louis Vuitton bag that worked more as a duffle and was filled to the brim. Alongside an envelope that was in his suit jacket pocket.

When he made it to the room he knocked on the door and stood patiently whilst hearing footsteps coming forward.

Rhaella opened the door and Jon was slightly taken aback at the woman in front of him.

There was no doubt that the woman in front of him was Dany’s mother. They shared the same eye color and the same blonde hair.

For a woman in her fifties, Rhaella looked no older than thirty. The woman’s eyes studied him before widening and softening at the same time.

‘You know who I am?’ he asked her whilst still standing outside.

She shook her head eagerly whilst Jon entered her hotel room without invitation. He surveyed the interior noting the wonderful state the room was in.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you I have been dying to s…’ he cut her off before she could say anything else.

‘I am not here for niceties, not yet anyways, perhaps in the future if things prove different. Right now you are a stranger to my family and I’ he said as he sat down in the chair.

Rhaella frowned at him looking so much like Dany that Jon averted his gaze.

‘Then why are you here?’ Rhaella asked more cautiously.

Jon shrugged his shoulders as if it were plain curiosity despite there being a reason to him being here.

‘Do you know your daughter is a remarkable woman’ he commented, completely ignoring her question.

A full smile was now painted on Rhaella.

‘She’s smart, brave, courageous and ambitious and she’s a good woman’ he said. ‘It took me a month before I realized that I was in love with her.’

There was a bottle of Courvoisier on the glass table near the television and Jon poured himself a glass.

‘I have seen her go toe to toe against billionaires, presidents, governors and mayors, even mercenaries. Not once have I ever seen her conflicted but then you came along’ he said with his eyes narrowed.

Rhaella stood more defensively now.

‘It made me curious about you, so I did a little digging into your past. You were born in Valyria before your family moved to Dragonstone, Rhaella Velaryon. When you started high school that’s when you met Aerys, he was in his senior year and when he went to college, the two of you were still dating. There are dateline stories about things like that by the way.’

‘But you continued dating and when you were fifteen and he was doing 2nd year in college, you got pregnant’ he said as he took a sip from his glass.

Rhaella looked down slightly as if recalling a painful memory.

‘You kept the baby but your father kicked you out, Monford couldn’t tolerate you or little Rhaegar and you then ran to Aerys who accepted you and his son with open arms. Ironic when you consider that Dany was in the exact same situation with Drogo but only this time your loving and accepting husband acted the exact same way your father did. But he supported you and the two of you were helped out by his Uncle Aemon and he paid for both of your educations which got you jobs before you had Viserys and decided to start a company of your own. Then you had Dany and then your husband committed fraud and you covered it up and took the fall for him. Tale as old as time hey?’

Rhaella sat down before looking at him with a scowl.

‘Is there a reason you’re expositing my past or do you just want to make me feel like shit?’ she asked him.

Jon didn’t break away from her glare; he had enough experience with Catelyn not to shy away from such stares. Though he understood why Rhaella was feeling defensive.

‘I want to know if you knew who Aerys was when you talk the fall for him?’ he asked her.

‘What?’ she asked even though he knew she understood his question.

‘You heard me’ he replied evenly. ‘Because you may have taken the fall to protect your family but that doesn’t mean shit if you knew, it actually makes it worse.’

Rhaella looked down and bit her lip anxiously.

‘I took the fall because I loved him and I loved my family’ she said.

Jon shook his head.

‘And if you loved them then you would have known that the right thing to do would’ve been to let him man up to what he did’ he argued, though he knew it was an unfair thing to say, the only reason he was saying it was because he knew there was a part of Dany that felt this way and she wouldn’t be able to speak her mind.

Her expression was now frantic.

‘They were going to give him life with no option for parole. At the time I didn’t know he would become who he was’ she replied, her voice had a frantic edge.

‘Where there signs?’ he asked her.

She looked at him as if she were bewildered.

‘What?’ she asked as if she didn’t hear him correctly.

‘Where there signs?’ he asked her.

She shook her head slowly.

‘He had a temper sure but I never thought for a second he would harm our kids…I’ she looked down.

Jon felt a semblance of sympathy for her, not realizing how much of Dany he would see in her.

‘I’m not judging you Rhaella; you suffered as well and I can only empathize as far as I can because I don’t know what it’s like living with a man like that but like I said I love my wife and you have put her in an impossible position’ he said.

Rhaella had tears shimmering in her eyes.

‘And I understand, I am not trying to pick any side here! I hate what they both did but he is my son. What do you want me to do?’ she asked.

There was desperation in her voice that furled an untapped rage in Jon. If it were up to him, he would find different ways to hurt Viserys in order to break him. An objective that would be easy to achieve but that decision was not up to him.

‘That depends Rhaella, how badly do you want to see your daughter?’ Jon asked her.

Rhaella’s eyes shined which was answer enough but Jon had to be sure.

He proceeded to take the Louis Vuitton bag and unzipped it showing the cash that was fully packed within it.

Jon tossed it to Rhaella who looked at it as if it were a bomb.

‘I asked you earlier why you went to prison for that monster and you said you loved him but I am wondering if that’s still the case because if it is then I am going to skip a few chapters to the inevitable cause we all know how this story will end. That is fifty million dollars in cash. You can take the bag and go wherever you like or go to Dragonstone and take Viserys with you and build the business that Aerys wanted to build. You would be settled for life but the caveat is that when you deposit it into a bank, they will ask you where you got it from and then I will confirm as much, but the price of my confirmation is that you will sign an agreement that you will never come near Dany or any of our daughters ever again. It would spare us a lot of pain and a lot of time.’

Rhaella stared at him in shock and she touched the bag as if it were a porcupine with its spikes raised.

Jon then pulled out the envelope in his jacket pocket and pulled out the legal documents that he wanted to give her in the first place.

‘Or you could pick option number two and show that you’re actually committed by not letting that monster into her life ever again’ he said as he gave her the papers.

She stared down at the papers in her hands, her eyes reading every statute.

Jon stared out the balcony and let her read.

When he turned around he saw that she was signing the papers. She handed them to him and Jon couldn’t help but smile.

‘You sure about this, I’m willing to offer you a hundred million. That’s a lot of money’ he said.

There was a swill of rage that flashed in her eyes, one that only a loving mother could have.

‘No amount of money will ever make me not want to see my daughter. I just want to see her’ she said.

Jon smiled fully this time. ‘Good. Now that I know that you’re committed. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jon Snow.’

He held out his hand for her to shake.

She took it and smiled hesitantly.

‘I look forward in getting to know you’ he said.

Rhaella nodded in a modicum fashion.

He headed to the door before she halted him with a question, ‘what about Viserys?’

Jon turned back whilst holding the bag.

‘I believe that is what you and your daughter will decide. At least with this, she will know that you are on her side and she’ll come up here’ he said.

Jon made it home and he released a sigh, despite not doing much, the day had felt long. Though he knew there was one other thing he needed to do as he walked up the stairs.

He dialed the number and he heard Sansa’s voice on the other end.

‘Good evening you have called the offices of Congressmen Robert Stark, to whom am I speaking?’ Sansa asked cordially.

Jon stifled a chuckle.

‘Your parents are paying a lot of money for you to be going to an Ivy League school in the Westerlands. You telling me it’s for the sole purpose of doing secretarial work?’ Jon asked her.

There was a muffled pause.

‘…Jon? And um no it’s vac work, Robb hired me for the holidays, looks good on a resume’ she replied.

‘I know Sansa, it was a joke. I do that from time to time’ he said.

She laughed albeit unsurely.

‘Why are you calling, we were about to head out’ Sansa stated.

‘I wanted to speak to Robb but I don’t have his personal cell. I’d ask Arya but she’s not picking up’ he said.

‘Oh she’s probably at hockey practice’ Sansa replied.

‘Naturally’ he stated.

‘All transfer you to Robb’ she said.

He opened the door to his bedroom and waited a few seconds before Robb answered.

‘Jon look I heard about what happened today and I’m sorry but father is pulling all the strings he can to fix it’ Robb stated.

Jon nursed his temples because even as the years went by, he still knew his family.

‘You mean he told you about it and you asked him what’s your next move to retaliate against the Boltons and he said nothing because he’s not going to do anything’ he stated.

He hoped that the pessimism he held when it came to his father would be proven wrong but Robb’s silence confirmed it as much.

‘Jon…’ Robb wanted to argue but he cut him off.

‘Save it, I know how he operated as a judge. He would never pick a fight, not for me anyways’ he said whilst hating the all too familiar sting that those words brought.

‘Jon that’s how he is. He believes in ethics and protocol’ Robb replied. He bit his tongue not wanting to point out scenarios when that wasn’t the case.

‘Yeah but that brings me to my next point consider it the only advice I will ever give you. Father’s pristine reputation may seem like a boon but it’s going to make him lose. He may be the favorite but Bolton will do everything to win and he has no ethics, he will say and do anything to bring constituents to his side of the ledger. Father will lose all his allies and all he will have are the people’s vote but that’s not enough when you have no one on your side’ he said.

Robb was listening attentively to him, a strange circumstance seeing his brother act in his profession.

‘So your advice is we’re going to lose cause Roose will steal all our allies’ Robb stated.

Jon shook his head with a wry smile.

‘If it hasn’t happened already then it will. Father is honorable but that means nothing to Karstark or Umber and all those politicians who want something for their own gain. They will all join Roose side’ he said.

A frustrated huff left Robb and Jon knew he was seeing what he was pointing out.

‘How is this helpful advice?’ Robb asked him.

Jon rolled his eyes.

‘Robb you’re a lot of things but you aren’t stupid. All of these people are going to turn on father so why not turn on them with the one ally that can bring enough votes that they can swing the tide. The Free-Folk population takes a chunk out of the North’ he said.

‘You want us to align with the Wildlings?’ Robb asked bewildered. ‘Father would never go for it, how would we even convince him?’

Jon snorted again.

‘Who is this “we?” he asked. ‘That’s a “you” problem buddy’ he said nonchalantly.

Robb sighed.

‘How would I even get in touch with them, they see us as the opposition’ Robb stated.

‘It just so happens that the night we had dinner in my home, I met someone that works for Mance. You know her as well. You slept with her whilst we were dating.’

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

‘Mance wants to be president’ Robb finally stated, his voice lower after clearing his throat. ‘He won’t back down.’

‘The Free-Folk on their own won’t win. This is a killer idea that you need to put through the finish line’ he said.

‘What if I can’t get them to see eye to eye?’ Robb asked him unsurely.

Jon shrugged.

‘Another “you” problem I suppose. But if you can’t get Northern people to band together then perhaps neither you or father should be in office’ he said before hanging up and entering his room.

Dany was sitting on the edge of the bed with her pad in her night dress. She smiled at him before her eyes looked at the Louis Vuitton bag.

‘Hey where were you?’ she asked.

Jon gave her the envelope and she took it with a raised brow as she opened it and read the headline.

‘This is a dissolution of marriage. I know we got into an argument but are you going to divorce me over that?’ she teased with a puffy smile indicating she hadn’t fully read the paper.

‘No it was signed by Rhaella Targaryen, soon to be Velaryon. I’m going to have Marywn take them to Dragonstone tomorrow’ he said.

Dany’s eyes widened.

‘You went to see my mother?’ she asked him, her voice tentative as she regarded the divorce papers with a glint of hope in her eyes.

He nodded and judging from the small smirk that she was trying to fight from showing, he knew she had figured out what he did.

‘Did she consider the money?’ Dany asked him as she put the papers in a drawer on her side of the bed.

‘For a minute but only a minute, that’s why I believe she’s serious about wanting you in her life. Had she jumped to sign those papers I would have worried. Fifty million aint nothing to balk at’ he replied.

This time she didn’t hide her smirk.

‘So you’re saying you think I’m worth fifty million?’ she teased.

Jon snorted as if the notion itself was ridiculous.

‘No but I did some reading on your family and whilst fifty million to us is like chewing gum, to them, to her it’s a like winning a lifetime lottery’ he said.

Dany came close to him with fear evident on her face.

‘What if that’s what I will be to her’ she admitted.

Jon knew that deep down that was troubling her as well, he just wanted her to voice it and he went to palm her cheek.

‘Perhaps but hypotheticals don’t mean shit unless put to the test and you won’t know until you see her. Dany you’ve been dying to see her for as long as I can remember and you have bribed everyone that you could to get her out’ he said. ‘I did this to reassure that it wasn’t for nothing.’

She nodded as she accepted his hand on her waist and the other on her neck. Their lips met slowly as they swayed in each other’s company.

‘For the record based off my interaction with her, she just wants to see her daughter’ he said with a sincere smile.

She returned his smile.

‘Then I guess tomorrow the girls and I will pay her a visit and spend the day with her’ she said.

Jon nodded though he could sense some uncertainty lurking within those ocean eyes.

Dany then held his head and attacked him with her lips, a hunger in her eyes as she ripped the buttons off his shirt.

‘That’s Versace’ he said whilst pretending to be offended.

She gave him a teasing smirk.

‘I haven’t had you this whole week, fuck your shirt’ she said as she pushed him on to the bed and started to unbuckle his Gucci belt.

He eased back feeling her breath panting when he heard two loud giggles approach their door.

Dany immediately shifted from her kneeling position with a frustrated groan. The girls had the decency to knock. Something they had insisted upon when Lizzie almost caught them.

‘Mommy you said you were going to come to our tea party’ Ally said with a pout.

Dany gave him an apologetic look as the girls ushered her out but before he could lay back, Lizzie grabbed his hand for him to join them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading. Next chapter is already written just needs to be checked. But I might post Red Keep next.


	6. Every Dragon Needs A Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany catches up with her mother and briefly attends a ball before something needs handling.

****

_"Big money in this bitch if you didn't knew  
Big business minus the business suit  
Even I look in the mirror like is it you  
And I say I must be the hottest if it isn't you  
Stay fresh from my top to my tennis shoes  
New coupe, no top, big tennis shoes  
Never slipped, not even on the side of a swimming pool  
We don't get ridiculed,  
We get rid of fools  
They said I couldn't play football I was too small  
They say I couldn't play basketball I wasn't tall  
They say I couldn't play baseball at all  
And now everyday of my life I ball!  
And they say ya' ain't raining until someone assassinate,  
And I feel like M-L-K" _

_\- Dwayne Micheal Carter_

**Dany**

_She had just packed away her rental cap and gown along with the newly minted degree she had just received. Though sadness enveloped her that she truly didn’t have a home in which she could hang it up unlike Jon who did have one. She didn’t let the sadness consume her considering Uncle Aemon had been gushing and smiling playing the paternal role at her graduation ceremony._

_Though given that he as lecturer finally had kin who added their name to the alumni of Oldtown University and also graduated magna cum laude, his pride was justified. She was grateful for him as well, paying for her college and seeing her through Varsity was something that she could never express in words with regards to her gratitude. And through it all he stood by her._

_Almost four years ago to the date she had just found out that Drogo had knocked her up. The day when her father found out and everything turned to shit. The day he had become the monster that he had always been to Viserys and Viserys had been to her. The day he became worse._

_Dany didn’t know whether she wanted the baby or not but the chance was taken out of her hands and when her father told her to get out, in that moment she had never felt more alone. Aemon had been life raft until she met Jon and rediscovered what happiness was._

_She didn’t let the thoughts well up. Today was a day of celebration and she couldn’t help but smile when she saw him walk towards her with a bright smile on his face._

_Jon was her joy and her life, from the moment she met him she had been hooked. To think that their relationship had started out as them competing on who would be the valedictorian and now here they stood as co-valedictorian._

_‘Your mother done taking pictures of you?’ she asked and she giggled when he gave her that pout frown of his._

_‘The damn thing ran out of film’ he said as he took her hand and led them to Aemon’s dining room and watched while his little sister Allyria conversed animatedly about how excited she was to be going into ninth grade with anyone who would listen._

_They sat silently on the couch before Jon looked into her eyes seeming somewhat nervous._

_‘So I’ve been thinking’ he said._

_Dany regarded him oddly wondering why he had become so pensive._

_‘About?’ she questioned softly._

_Jon smiled nervously._

_‘I know you have your heart set on working for Lanniscorp but I want us both to work for Stannis’ he said pleadingly. ‘His firm may be flea compared to the behemoth of Lanniscorp but we’re one of the top achievers in the country, if you go to Lanniscorp then you will be one of another thousand who are just as smart but with Stannis we will be above the pecking order.’_

_Dany gave him a smile. He had been subtly trying to convince her that they should take the job were his stepfather worked._

_‘Cersei Lannister is one of the youngest female executives in the world and the youngest female billionaire ever. Working as a first year clerk under her is a dream’ she replied. ‘I know you don’t want me to go to the Westerlands, it’s a whole different country but Jon we will make this work. I love you and if you can give me a year to prove myself there before transferring to one of the offices in the Crownlands. I just want the opportunity to work close to her just for some time.’_

_Jon nodded in understanding._

_‘I get it and if this is what you want then we will make it work but you remember our Finance and Consulting class with Reiner when he told us what happens when a prospective customer has an offer from someone else?’ Jon asked._

_She nodded._

_‘You come with a better offer’ she replied._

_Jon nodded and handed her an envelope._

_She opened it and looked on to see a lease agreement to rent an apartment near Flea Bottom and his name was there along with another name._

_‘This year we interned in the Reach and we practically lived together. I love you Dany and I understand that you want to work under a powerful woman but I feel that you are special enough to do it all by yourself and I don’t want to be apart from you. Flea Bottom is a shithole but we can move out and get a nicer place come month end when we both get our first pay check’ he said._

_Her heart pounded as she stared at him._

_‘You really want this? Us?’ she questioned._

_He nodded assuredly._

_‘I know you’re scared but you mean the world to me and you’re my family’ he said._

_She looked down at the lease and smiled._

_‘I will send my acceptance letter to Stannis in the morning’ she said before kissing him._

_Jon smiled brightly._

_His mother then came out. ‘I found more film, come let me take more pictures of my clever baby boy.’_

_She laughed as Jon groaned when Ashara grabbed him by his cheeks and ushered him to stand near the counter with his degree. A small sadness enveloped her considering her mother couldn’t be there at that moment._

_But she smiled knowing that she had Jon, Jon was her family and they will be together._

‘That’s a lovely story’ her mother stated, her eyes as blue as the ocean as she sat by the patio drinking her latte.

Dany had invited her to come to the house to see her and the girls, taking Jon’s advice of ripping off the band aid and letting things fall where they may. Second guessing would lead to a no win situation and a leap of faith had been required.

‘It was, though Flea Bottom was a shithole, we had moved out to Kings Landing within a month’ she said. ‘And whilst I like to consider that the place we first lived together, it technically wasn’t. So I hope that answers your question’

Her mother laughed whilst they were looking down at Ally and Lizzie playing by the pool.

‘You wanted to work for Cersei at the time?’ her mother questioned.

She nodded and almost laughed at the worst mistake she could have made.

‘I did, Cersei had hired a headhunter to go to different colleges to look for the top performing women in the class. I had other offers but she was the standout. It was a good thing I chose Stannis because Cersei is a c…’ she didn’t finish her statement remembering that she was speaking to her mother and she wouldn’t appreciate the word “cunt”. ‘… interesting person.’

Her mother smiled before looking at her anxiously, sadness etching her features.

‘I’m sorry I was never there’ she said sadly. ‘I’m sorry for all of it, your father, Viserys.’

Dany shook her head, not wanting to dredge up the past.

‘It’s not your fault’ she replied and she could see her mother disagreed.

There were days when she had blamed her mother, when she had wondered why she would take the fall for such a monster and leaving her in the hands of those two men.

‘I didn’t know Viserys was going to come and see me’ her mother stated.

‘I know, Aemon told me that Viserys had found out you were out and went to him’ she replied.

Rhaella shook her head and released a sigh.

‘I thought I would have some time before he searched for me’ her mother said softly, the years of prison reflecting on her face. Ally waved at her grandmother and Rhaella smiled from where she sat and waved back with a beaming smile. ‘I’m in love with your daughters.’

Dany smiled at that as she looked at Ally and Lizzie chasing each other.

‘I think they’re in love with you as well’ she replied.

They were practically bouncing when Dany told them that their grandmother would be coming to visit them. Just like when they saw their grandfather at Benjen’s funeral, they were entranced to find someone who looked mighty similar to either Jon or her.

Her mother was also entranced with them being as gentle and as sweet as she used to be before she was taken away. Before her father failed them and had her taken away. Dany found it interesting how easily they could be cordial as if nothing had changed in all their time apart.

But that was living in false truth and Dany was not that type of person. Her connection to Viserys was something she could not tolerate.

‘What did Viserys want?’ she asked her mother.

Rhaella shot her eyes away from the pool to look at her.

‘He heard I was released and he wanted us to be reunited’ her mother stated.

Dany raised her brow.

‘Muna I have made a career cutting million dollar deals with people that try to one up me, the reason they don’t is because I can read them, that’s my job. And my job also entails me deciphering things that are on the surface. Like right now’ she said as she poured herself a glass of bourbon in her Steuben. ‘Viserys flew all the way from Dragonstone to come see you, I don’t buy that. There is something more.’

Her mother thinned her lips.

‘He wanted me to come to Dragonstone to see your father…’ Rhaella hesitated. ‘And to bring you with me. He wanted us all to bury the hatchet.’

Dany nodded figuring as much as she rubbed her thumb and her index together. She hadn’t really cared to look into her family, the day she left Dragonstone was the day she disassociated herself with Viserys and Aerys.

She had also seen this movie play out before, now that she was successful her family wanted to welcome her back with open arms and in the process revel in her newfound wealth. But she would be damned before she ever set foot on Dragonstone.

‘And what did you say?’ she asked her mother.

‘I said no and told him that I will never be with Aerys ever again. That’s why I signed the divorce papers your husband gave me’ her mother replied determinedly.

She nodded finding the answer acceptable.

‘And what about Viserys?’ Dany questioned.

There was a flicker of hesitation in her eyes but her face became resolute.

‘I failed you just as much as I failed Viserys and Rhaegar wherever he may be so I won’t shut him out not entirely. I told him if he wants to speak to me then he needs to abandon his father and never talk to him again and that he should apologize and make things right with you’ her mother replied.

‘And what if I don’t want his apology or to make things right with him?’ she questioned narrowly.

Her mother nodded.

‘Then so be it, I just want to know you and be there for you and to know your babies’ her mother stated genuinely, her eyes widening just like Lizzie whenever she was about to cry.

Dany did not know what to say to that which made her mother sigh as she looked around.

‘This really is an incredible house. Aerys always dreamed of having a house like this and a life like this. One of his childhood friends caught a big break when he left college and made it big and your father always tried to compete with him’ her mother stated. ‘His attempts in trying to be even close to his friend led him down a dangerous path.’

‘A path to breaking the law you mean’ Dany finished.

Her phone buzzed and Dany remembered that she had another engagement.

‘Look I have to get ready for this afternoon luncheon ball that’s happening’ she said before giving her mother a hug

Her mother nodded.

‘Of course, of course. This was wonderful I am really enjoyed myself’ Rhaella said as she gave her another hug that could have smothered her to death.

She was ready to escort her out but then a thought hit her when she saw her mother’s reluctance to leave.

‘Why don’t you stay behind, Ashara usually watches the children but you can both watch them together’ she offered.

Her mother’s eyes lit up excitedly.

‘I would love that’ she said.

Dany stepped into the garden party in a white Hermes dress and white Prada stilettos that matched her crystal Cartier watch. The valet was slightly embarrassed when she informed him that her white Bugatti Veyron didn’t have any keys and was a simple push start when she saw him looking for the ignition.

She had needed the drive to clear her mind from breakfast with her mother. A part of her had thought that the meeting would have been more awkward but her mother had always had a special place in her heart. And now Lizzie and Ally loved their grandmother too. The thought made her smile as she took the wine glass from one of the servers.

Her worry now was her brother. It would only be a matter of time before he showed his face again and Dany was unsure if she could handle that. Dany had seen how her husband doted over Allyria, that was how brothers were supposed to behave and treat their sisters. Yet she had one brother who was abusive and another who abandoned her when she was naught more than a child.

It built bitterness in her and one that almost wanted to demand that her mother choose between her and cutting off all communications with Viserys. Though she didn’t do that, asking Aemon why he had shown up with Viserys and having her uncle tell her that Viserys had found him. Her mother wasn’t all too pleased at seeing Viserys either knowing what he did to her when she was on Dragonstone, Aemon being the one who probably divulged what little knew of their past, along with things she wanted to be kept buried.

The only person who truly knew was Jon and he had done his best to make her forget.

She wiped it out of her mind and instead smiled at the fact that she had spent the day with her mother, something she had wished for when she had seen her mother leave the courthouse in handcuffs with her bailing for her not to go, so smile she would. A smile she now shared with various women who had come to the “Her” luncheon for prominent women in the Crownlands.

Her smile evaporated when she saw a smug one reflected her way as it approached where she stood by the counter.

Once upon a time she would have dreamed to work for Cersei but time proved that she had made the right decision in staying put. Cersei in simple words was a cunt. Picking different opportunities to try and be a hindrance in the pettiest of ways when it came to their interactions whilst masquerading it under precedence and bullshit.

Simple things like bribing her competitors and excluding her from galas. Though for the past three years Dany had become way too successful for Cersei to even attempt that. She made way more than Cersei that they weren’t even in the same league and Cersei’s father was the only one in that family who could honestly give her a go, not that it stopped Cersei in her entirety to be shitty. There was the rare occasion when something conventionally and stupidly petty would happen because of her but Dany let it be because Cersei was like that with a lot of people and honestly she was way too low for her level, something that irritated the blonde copper haired woman.

‘Mrs. Dayne’ Cersei greeted spitefully whilst holding her glass of wine. The woman looked tipsy already. Dany knew she had been fashionably late but not late enough for the woman to be smiling ruefully.

‘Mrs. President’ she replied to the first lady and watching as her snide smile slipped briefly. Dany had always insisted to be referred to by her maiden name, not wanting to be seen as just the wife because Jon and her built their empire together. But even then she didn’t mind as much considering how dearly she loved her husband, Cersei did mind though and wanted to be seen as a Lannister alone and not as the wife of their fat president. The first lady eyed her up and down whilst brandishing her hair that was now cut short.

‘As cheeky as always I see’ Cersei said with a smile whilst assessing her. ‘Where is that handsome husband of yours, I swear that boy is too pretty for you.’

Dany only smiled.

‘I would say likewise but you’re married to Robert’ she said with a shrug.

Cersei laughed and this time it was surprisingly genuine, though her grin turned pompous immediately. It’s moments like this that she understood why Tyrion held such a loathing for her.

Cersei grabbed the fabric of her dress and matched to the white one she wore as well.

‘I do abhor the fact that we have to be donned in the color white, perhaps they should choose a different color next time so that you don’t have to wear such a short dress. I mistook you for an escort when you came in, unless your pimp is around here somewhere’ Cersei said in a friendly tone.

It was the irony of irony, them being at a luncheon to celebrate women and try to help them expand and grow into positions of power and here Cersei was being Cersei.

‘I think between the both of us we know who was pimped out unless you’re telling me you think Robert is your soul mate. Speaking of your pimp how is Tywin? I saw his latest interview about the miners in Castemere, yeesh’ Dany replied in an even friendlier and fake tone.

Cersei never one to back down from a spar sized her up.

‘Well parents are always complicated. Speaking of I heard from my friend at the DA that your mother was out of prison. She took the fall for your daddy right? Let’s hope the two of you aren’t cut from the same cloth’ Cersei muttered in fake sympathy.

Dany didn’t rise to the bait.

‘We aren’t cut from the same cloth but since you brought up cuts’ she said whilst pointing to her hair. ‘2005 Disney channel called, one of their teen heart throbs are begging for their hairstyle back.’ 

Dany wanted to burst out laughing at the frown on the woman’s face.

‘I cut my hair because my friend is starting chemo and I am showing her my support as she tries to fight cancer’ Cersei replied with a snarl

‘Why would your friend want to fight you?’ she asked quickly.

It took a moment for Cersei to understand.

‘You little bitch…’ she cut Cersei off with her exit.

‘Always a pleasure madam president, I will give Tyrion your love’ she said as she made her way to the foyer smiling at the woman that she had almost worked for.

She took a strawberry from a plate and she felt a hand envelope her arm is she ate the fruit.

Judging by the smell of DKNY she could already tell who it was.

‘I hope that you and Cersei were having an empowering discussion about uplifting women and I am glad to see you were charming as always’ Missandei said with a smile whilst she led her to the balcony.

Dany snorted.

‘People always find me charming; it’s not my fault that I am insatiably adorable with my pink and fluffy cheeks’ she said with a smirk.

Missy laughed as she stared out the balcony before glaring at her.

‘What did she say to you?’ Missy asked.

Dany shrugged.

‘Just Cersei being Cersei’ Dany replied. ‘Although her jabs weren’t as sharp as they usually were. Dare I say that she’s losing her touch?’

‘I assume it’s because you are about to fund her husband’s presidential campaign’ Missy replied.

Dany’s eyes widened.

‘WHAT?’ she almost shouted.

Missandei nodded as if confirming what she already knew.

‘I suspected as much. I was reviewing one of the offshore trusts you set up and I noticed that Shireen Baratheon withdrew over two million yesterday and plans to use it. Given that she’s under eighteen, her deposit into whatever account will remain pending for three days’ Missy stated.

She shrugged hoping that Missandei wasn’t hitting to what she suspected.

‘So what, Shireen is a rich teenager who has money to blow. What’s the big deal?’ she asked.

Missy looked to the door to check if no one was eavesdropping.

‘Guess who she had dinner with last night?’ Missandei questioned.

Dany groaned internally. ‘President Robert Baratheon, shit!’

Missandei nodded.

‘I thought Davos was going to talk her out of it?’ Missy questioned.

Dany thought as much. Shireen always listened to Davos, with the man stepping in as a foster father and raising the girl.

‘He did’ she replied.

‘Shireen would never do something like this unless someone convinced her otherwise’ Missandei stated.

Dany’s eyes sullied in realization.

‘I know who could convince her’ she said with a groan.

Missy looked at her as if expecting her to blurt it out.

‘I’m going to head to Kings Landing County prison, I need you to go to the office and get me the contract on acquisition date when Jon and I became sole owners of Ours Is the Fury, make sure to highlight the date’ she said as the two of them made their way out

‘I will get right on it’ Missy replied as they ignored a glare that Cersei sent them as they walked out. ‘It will actually give me an opportunity to show my new assistant how it’s done.’

Missandei was giving her an odd look after stating that, a look that Dany returned to her. She was somewhat pleased that her friend took Rhaenys on.

‘You already hired her’ she said with a smile though, knowing Allyria would be mostly pleased that her friend had got the job. Missandei gave her another curious look.

‘Yeah… I thought um… you wanted me to hire her? I did the background check and…’ Missandei said hesitantly as they stopped out the building on to the stairs as they waited for their cars.

‘She’s a friend of Ally’s so I did want you to hire her but only if you were amenable to that’ she stated whilst remembering the email she had sent to Missandei.

Missandei now look confused.

‘Wait that was the reason I thought you wanted me to hire Rhaenys because…’ her sentence was interrupted when her Rolls Royce arrived and the valet came out holding the remote to her car.

Dany waited for her explanation.

‘You don’t know about her?’ Missandei asked her and now it was Dany’s turn to be confused.

‘Know about who? Rhaenys?’ she questioned as her Bugatti finally arrived.

A look of realization now swept on the girl’s face.

‘That’s why she didn’t want me to do a background check ‘Missandei muttered.

‘Well she is a Martell so I guess she doesn’t want people knowing that, ambitious women with a life of privilege always want to make it on their own. I personally never subscribed to that theory, if it were me I would tattoo that my uncle is the president of Dorne on my forehead’ she joked.

Missandei now looked contemplative.

‘You should talk to her’ Missy suggested as she was entering her whip.

Dany nodded before she let the suicide door slide down before speeding away wondering why her friend had such a worried reaction.

It had been sometime since she had visited a prison, the last one being the county her mother was held but back then she didn’t have the money to bribe officials to transfer her to a comfy and cushion white collar resort like this one.

There was a buzz as she saw him being led into the break room that had been cleared for the two of them. The prison switchboard making a buzz sound as he was escorted to where she sat.

The man still had that rigid posture she remembered.

‘Daenerys’ he said curtly, he looked different with a beard and a grey jumpsuit.

‘Stannis’ she responded formally, showing that her tone brokered she wasn’t here for niceties.

‘To what do I owe the pleasure of the Dragon Queen finally paying me a visit?’ he questioned. ‘You never bothered all this time.’

She crossed her legs and smiled at the nickname they gave her way back when.

‘Well here I am and my tally of visits now rests on one, one more than your brother’ she said pointedly.

He let out a brief little smile.

‘You know?’ he asked.

‘Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Stannis why the hell are you letting your daughter try and back him?’ she asked him.

Stannis shrugged.

‘He’s my brother’ he replied simply.

Dany rolled her eyes.

‘Yeah and when shit hit the fan and you were up for a murder trial, your older brother went to great lengths to distance himself from you. That’s not how an older brother is supposed to act, he doesn’t deserve any second chance from you’ she stated.

The last sentence held a more deeper meaning. Stannis was no saint given that he was serving time for uxoricide but he had a daughter and Robert didn’t even bother to check if the girl was fine. If Viserys or even Rhaegar had children, Dany would see to it that they were at least cared for. Renly for all his faults did care for Shireen at least.

It was something she had in common with Stannis, having a shitty older brother.

‘What happens with my brother is our business not yours’ he replied simply.

‘By involving Shireen you’re making it my business, literally. You know that if Shireen donates a few million into Robert’s account, people will ask who is footing the bill and it will lead back to us and even if we deny any political affiliation. Robert will use this as proof that he not only has Lanniscorp backing him but Ice and Fire as well. Guaranteeing that your brother wins and he will be inclined to get you out’ she said.

Stannis smiled briefly.

‘Am I smart enough to do that?’ he questioned.

Dany shook her head.

‘You’re dumb enough to try’ she said quickly.

‘And just so I am clear our company doesn’t get involved in politics but even if it did, hell will freeze over before I’d endorse Robert Baratheon’ she said.

Stannis leaned back in his chair.

‘Then I suppose global warming has come to fruition because you’re going to. There is no way you will convince Shireen to do what I have already convinced her to do’ he said with a sniff.

‘I could freeze her accounts and tell her that if she does this then I will cut her off completely’ Dany replied.

Stannis shook his head in disagreement.

‘No you won’t because my former driver has a special place for my daughter, that’s why he took her in. And your husband has special place for his stepfather’ Stannis replied with an amused huff. ‘You think you can bluff me into doing your bidding, I am the one who taught you and your husband all your tricks.’

Dany nodded as Stannis looked at her like he had her.

‘You’re right, you got me, Davos loves Shireen and we love Davos and to be honest we care a lot about Shireen’ Dany replied as she gave him her tab.

Stannis took it and looked at document in place.

‘This was the contract I drew up in which I gave you ownership of my company when you and your husband had run away to do your startup’ he grumbled. ‘What? Are you here to thank me for giving you a lot of money to become who you are today?’

Dany gave him a patronizing smile.

‘First of all, Jon and I were the ones who made you way more money than you ever thought possible, you were always small minded that’s why we had decided to leave to do our own startup’ she corrected.

‘And that startup wouldn’t have amounted to anything if I didn’t come a week later ready to hand over ownership of my millions. Ownership that catapulted the both of you’ he replied.

‘It was a million, singular when we joined. It only became millions when Jon and I brought you business but I’m glad you brought that up because I was going to show that to your teenage daughter right after I tell her you did this weeks before you took her mother’s life’ Dany responded.

Stannis face went wide but he didn’t balk in fear. He simply stared at her.

‘I’m already in jail for her murder, she knows that’ he said.

She smiled.

‘No, she knows that her mother’s murder was an accident of you being too wasted over the limit despite you not having a single sip of alcohol. That plus the fact you signed over ownership to us shows that Selyse’s death had intent’ she said.

‘If you show this as proof to any court to extend my service then you would have knowingly held vital evidence and both you and your husband will be charged with accessory after the fact’ he snarled.

Dany shook her head as if he didn’t understand what she meant.

‘I don’t plan on showing this to a judge. Just Shireen so that she can see that you always intended to kill her mother’ she stated.

Stannis clenched his jaw.

‘Selyse was crazy and an evil woman’ he replied harshly.

‘Then you should have had her committed and taken full custody of your daughter. You are a man and you were also a millionaire; you could have easily won that case. No, you wanted her dead’ she said. ‘And Shireen will see it that way.’

‘You would risk hurting Shireen over this?’ Stannis asked.

Dany sniffed.

‘You think it’s me she’s going to have a problem with?’ Dany questioned him back with a blank face.

Stannis laughed a real laugh and he seemed impress.

‘Your poker face has improved young Targaryen, I will give you that much. I taught you well’ he said before looking down. ‘Alright I will convince her, as long as you keep your mouth shut.’

Dany nodded before she got up.

‘And I also want you to tell me who gave you the idea to have your daughter convene with your brother’ she said as she straightened her dress.

Stannis regarded her.

‘Who said anyone approached me?’ he asked with a curious tone.

Dany gave him a raised brow.

‘Stannis I worked with you for years and I know how you hold grudges against people. You never liked your brother to begin with and after your trial and his silence I know you would never turn to him for anything. Someone gave you this idea and I want to know who?’ she asked him

Stannis nodded as he tapped his fingers.

‘Some contractor who told me he works for the President, he had a Northern accent mixed with a bit of Vale. He didn’t look like a wealthy man’ he said and Dany felt her insides boil as she already knew who it was as Stannis continued. ‘He said his name was…’

‘Bronn’ she finished for him.

She made her way to the office whilst gritting her teeth in rage.

Dany walked into the office wanting to tear him a new one but she knew she had to calm down.

So she sought her husband’s office and found him on the desk with a stack of papers on his glass desk. She felt her ire dissipate slightly.

‘Have I ever told you how you look extremely sexy you when you’re concentrating’ she said to him as he paged through some paperwork. He smiled but didn’t look up.

‘That implies that I am not as sexy when I do other things’ he replied before looking up and giving her a smile that made her tingle.

‘How was your SJW gala?’ he asked her.

She rolled her eyes.

‘It was a meeting for prominent women to celebrate and discuss how we can best move forward and help each other along with other women’ she corrected him.

Jon scrunched his eyes mockingly. ‘That’s what I said.’

She sat on the edge of his desk and his head was level with her waist as he brushed her knees. Whilst she glared at him.

‘You should have come, perhaps you could have learned a thing or two’ she said as she caressed his hair.

Jon played with her wrists.

‘You’re right I should ignore buying a basketball team that’s growing in branding and in few years will be worth billions just so I can attend a dinner where wealthy women applaud each other and discuss how to make them and only them, richer. It’s a tough one’ he replied sarcastically.

‘So cynical’ she said with a grin.

Jon sniffed.

‘Oh please if I offered any one in that room a choice between taking one billion and using it for themselves or taking it and using it all to supply other women with jobs. I guarantee there would be a new female billionaire’ he replied.

‘I guess she will join me and the other two women in the list of the fifty billionaires in the world’ she said in the pointedly.

Jon gave her a contemplative look before smiling.

‘Ok touché that’s a good point’ he said.

She let out a sigh.

‘I had to leave early to visit our old boss’ she said.

Jon looked up in surprise.

‘Really?’ he replied. ‘How is Stannis the Mannis?’ 

She laughed at their boss’s old offices nickname and now remembering why she had even come to their office.

‘As churlish as ever. Speaking of, I have a head to crack’ she said.

Jon gave her a kiss before focusing back on the contract.

‘By the way your mother is here, she took the girls to the zoo with my mother and the chauffer dropped them here. You should probably say thanks before she leaves’ he stated.

She nodded with a smile.

‘I will’ she said and she could see the questioning look he was giving her.

‘I take it breakfast went well?’ he asked her.

‘It did’ she said,

He smiled before he nodded.

‘Good’ he said.

She found her mother outside Jon’s office talking to both Ally and Lizzie but as the door opened, the two scampered to give her a hug before charging at Jon and climbing on his neck.

‘Thank you for looking after them’ she said.

Her mother shook her hand.

‘It’s no problem, they were angels’ Rhaella responded.

‘Where’s Ashara?’ Dany questioned.

Rhaella looked behind her.

‘Somewhere down the hall, I was just about to leave’ Rhaella responded as they walked together.

They found Ashara outside Missandei’s office and she was talking to Rhaenys, the conversation seemed serious judging by the expression on Ally’s friend’s face. Though what was stranger was the fact that Allyria’s friend had the same expression that her Ally would have whenever she was in trouble.

Though her face turned pale when she eyed them approaching. Rhaenys looked frightened to see her mother and Dany turned to look at the women to see if she was missing something.

Rhaella regarded Rhaenys briefly as if she was trying to place her.

‘Hey Ashara’ she said as she kissed her mother in law.

Ashara kissed her back before glancing anxiously at her and Rhaenys.

‘And Rhaenys, how are you finding Ice & Fire?’ she questioned in a friendly tone.

Rhaenys shook herself out of her shock, an action that Dany was accustomed to when her daughters would see something scary and try to hide it.

‘Um it was wonderful I am grateful for the opportunity’ Rhaenys replied awkwardly whilst darting back to look at her mother.

Dany turned to Rhaella and her mother seemed to be assessing Rhaenys as well so she decided to introduce the two.

‘Mother this is Rhaenys, she’s Missandei’s assistant and Rhaenys this is my mother’ Dany replied.

Her mother gave Rhaenys a friendly smile.

‘Rhaenys? That’s Valyrian’ her mother stated before switching to Valyrian herself. (Do you speak?).

Rhaenys nodded.

(I do, my father taught me) Rhaenys replied flawlessly in Valyrian.

Her mother grinned.

(That’s wonderful; your father is from Valyria?) Rhaella asked.

For some reason Rhaenys looked like a frightened lamb. Ashara looked on with a worried expression as if she knew something they didn’t.

‘Muna why don’t we let Rhaenys get back to her work’ she suggested.

Her mother seemed to be looking at Rhaenys intently before nodding. Ashara clapped her hands as well.

‘Well I should probably say goodbye to Ally and Lizzie because I have fallen out of the pecking order when it comes to being their favorite grandmother’ Ashara teased Rhaella.

Her mother smiled fondly and wistfully whilst looking at Ashara who was standing right next to Rhaenys.

‘Granddaughter’ her mother said whilst looking Ashara.

Rhaenys blinked in surprise given that she was standing in front of Ashara so it seemed her mother had spoken to her.

‘What?’ she asked in a surprised tone that was very high pitched.

Rhaella regarded Rhaenys oddly.

‘No I was remarking how strange it is to have grandchildren and be able to call someone my granddaughter’ her mother replied whilst hinting she was talking to Ashara and not her.

‘Oh’ Rhaenys said sadly.

Dany noticed movement in the office she had intended to go and bid the women goodbye.

She stepped into her COO’s office.

‘Daenerys’ he said with smile as he reviewed a file before placing a stamp on it. ‘I thought you were at some SJW gala?’

‘It was a meeting for prominent women to celebrate and discuss how we can best move forward and help each other along with other women’ she corrected him.

Tyrion sniffed with a small smile. ‘That’s what I said.’

She took a seat on the opposite chair from his desk. Tyrion’s chair was more issue maintenance because he would need to prop it up when he sat and spoke to people.

‘What can I do for you Daenerys?’ he asked.

‘There’s a delicate matter I need taken care of’ she answered.

Tyrion’s eyes mused curiously.

‘Delicate?’ he questioned.

‘Some asshole tried to leech money from me by underhanded means and you know what I do to people like that?’ she asked him back.

He nodded. ‘You destroy them. I assume you want me to take care of it?’

She nodded back.

‘Who’s the guy?’ Tyrion asked.

She opened the tab.

‘Some consultant for hire from Blackwater named Bronn’ she said pointedly.

Tyrion froze as he took the tab after hearing her words.

‘Let me explain’ he said slowly.

She shook her head.

‘Explain what? That you tried to collude with Stannis behind my back to have Shireen use my money, knowing that Robert will claim that Jon and I are now his donors. This breaks our rule about not getting involved in politics. A rule that you always abided by’ she stated.

Tyrion rushed to close his office door to close it.

‘Yes but that rule is in place because you are never certain if the party in question will win, with your backing, Robert will win’ he stated.

Dany arched her eyes in annoyance.

‘If you truly think that then you are off your game, just because you throw someone a little money doesn’t mean shit when it comes to elections. Cause one sextape can destroy his all campaign and we’ll be sitting here with our dicks in our hands’ her tone was steely.

Tyrion shook his head in disagreement.

‘Daenerys my job…’ she cut him off before he could explain himself out of this.

‘Is to help me and this is the second time in the past two weeks that you have put us in a heap of shit. I can chalk up what you did as an honest mistake but this has been happening for the past year and Jon…’ Tyrion didn’t let her finish.

‘Ah so this is about Jon’ he said with a click of his fingers as if he solved it.

‘No this is about you and your need to get even with your family and trying to make me join forces with the Lannisters so that you can tear them down’ she spat.

Tyrion let out a disbelieving huff.

‘You’ve always known I wanted to get even with my family and you had no problem using my vengeance to make your company as big as theirs and now that we are powerful enough to take them on, you and your husband want to back out because you’re scared that you will lose to my father’ his voice was now a moderate shout.

She stared at him plainly.

‘I’m not afraid of Tywin but I am smart enough to know that he can beat us and us beating him isn’t worth the risk and if you can’t see that then your letting your issues with your family cloud your judgment more than you know’ she said.

Tyrion bit his lip and there was a war going on in his mind wondering if he should say what he eventually uttered.

‘You’re one to talk’ he said lowly.

Dany turned to look at him.

‘Excuse me?’ she questioned if she heard him correctly.

Tyrion seemed to find courage from that.

‘What I did with Stannis may have been backhanded but this is how I’ve always operated and you and your husband were always fine with it. Jon stopped being fine with it last year when we hit a hundred billion, that was his ceiling but you always wanted to be the best, better than everyone else. But you have been distracted lately because you’re mommy is out’ he said with a snarl. ‘That’s why you are here scolding me, otherwise it would be Jon and you would cover for me because you know that I would get the job done. But your head has been preoccupied as of late,’

What he said gave her some pause and she garnered back to last week when Jon had foreseen this exact type of problem. Tyrion seemed to have cooled from his anger and suddenly realized what he said and who he was talking to.

‘Tyrion you are a valued member of this firm and I consider you a friend so I am going to let that go. And you’re right Jon doesn’t want you here anymore and if it were anyone else he would have told you to pack your shit, instead he told me we should consider Missandei for your position because she has been able to spot many of your fuck ups. I hadn’t given it much thought until now’ she said.

Her friend’s eyes widened in hurt and fear.

‘You… you can’t’ he said.

She shrugged.

‘Oh I can’ she said simply.

Tyrion’s eyes went watery before he steeled himself.

‘If you fire me what’s to stop me from going to the police and telling them that Stannis signed over his shares before he ran both him and his wife off the road’ he said.

Dany smiled.

‘Are you threatening me Tyrion?’ she asked him, a part of her wondering if she had misjudged their relationship.

Tyrion shook his head sadly.

‘No I would never do that, you’re like family to me, and I am just using the same move you probably used on Stannis, hypothetically speaking of course’ he said.

She walked forward and walked towards Tyrion whilst fixing the collar of his shirt and looking down at him.

‘Well Tyrion if you do that then they might open a case, doubtful considering how much the government owes us but if they do I doubt Stannis will talk. And hypothetically speaking, if that happens then I might be forced to open a file that your father buried, involving your ex-wife Tysha and her allegation of what you did to her’ she said quietly.

He looked up at her.

‘I didn’t do anything and you know that’ he protested.

She shrugged again.

‘All I know is that you have been fucking up and I am telling you that it stops now and that when the quarter ends, Missandei might be taking your role. And if you value having a job here after that and our friendship at all then I am telling you for your own good. Tread lightly’ she said. ‘Just because you’re clever doesn’t mean others aren’t.’

Tyrion looked down now.

‘I apologize for my outburst and my actions as of late. I won’t make the same mistake again.’

She didn’t reply as she left his office.

‘You should have fired him on the spot’ Jon told her as they ate their dinner and he carved out his chicken with his fork and knife.

Dany shook her head as she finished her steak

‘No. I’m giving him one more chance’ she said.

Jon shook his head.

‘You shouldn’t’ he said.

‘He will now be eager than ever to prove his worth’ she said pointedly.

‘Or he will know the walls are closing in so he will try and go for a Hail Mary to one up his family that will backfire spectacularly’ he replied.

Dany let out a sigh.

‘He might prove you wrong’ she argued.

Jon raised a brow.

‘Dany when have I ever been wrong about something like this?’ he asked her.

She relented in agreement, Jon was rarely wrong.

‘Fair point, I will watch him closely’ she said.

He nodded happily.

She smiled thinking about his last sentence.

‘Today I was talking to my mother and I told her about the day you offered to move in with me and how I almost went to work for Cersei. You knew working for Cersei would be a bad move. You always know’ she said.

He smiled.

‘I was scared you were going to leave and not want to come back’ he said.

She gave him a sad smile.

‘Nonsense, I would always come back to you, you’re my home’ she replied.

His eyes shined before he cleared his throat.

‘We should celebrate; you and your mother were finally reunited. What would you prefer? Ros _e_ or Grenache?’ he asked.

She shrugged but the thought of answer that would irk him.

‘Dom Perignon’ she said with a smile.

Jon grimaced.

‘You know I don’t like champagne, it makes my stomach hurt’ he complained.

She grinned.

‘I know’ she said as he made his way out. ’Hey Jon,’

Jon turned around to look at her.

‘I’m glad I moved in with you. It’s the best choice I ever made’ she said.

Jon nodded.

‘I love you too’ he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favorite thing in this story is having Dany walk up to people and straighten their collars like a boss before setting them straight.


	7. Politics and Money Don't Mix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon tries to close a deal before he finds himself up North

****

_'Came to the world at a time when it was in need of a villain  
An asshole, that role I think I succeeded fulfillin'  
But don't think I ever stopped  
To think that I was speaking to children  
Everything was happening so fast  
It was like I blinked—sold three million" - Marshall Mathers_

**Jon**

He took a sip of his mocha that was heavily dipped with chocolate. Allyria would constantly mock him and ask him why he doesn’t just drink coffee like a normal adult but what the point of having all this money and having to still act normal.

He was already dressed, wearing a Rag and Bone shirt along with his Burberry suit and shoes to match. He had woken up early because he had an early meeting and had showered and primed himself ready but he knew he would be late the moment he stepped from the balcony and looked at Dany who was laying on the bed in a seductive manner.

She lay on her front with her legs twirled in the air. Her blonder hair was loose and falling down to her waist and all she had on were her silk lace panties.

She gave him a seductive smile as she leaned back like a cat ready to pounce.

‘I hope you’re not going to work yet’ she said in a sweet angelic voice with a shine in her eyes as she rubbed her legs in the air.

Jon let out a sigh.

‘I was actually hoping to get some breakfast before I head to the office’ he said with a sigh

Dany decided to stand on her knees on their cartoonishly large bed as she slowly crawled forward to the edge in which he was close to.

‘You can eat me instead, I am sure I taste better than whatever you planned to have our chefs whip up downstairs’ she said as her chest heaved showing her breasts in all their glory.

There were moments when he was genuinely curious if his wife knew what a knockout she was because it seemed way too effortless for her.

He was now a breath away as he felt her skin and her lips weaken whatever resolve he had of walking out and going about his day.

‘Perhaps I can spare thirty minutes’ he said as he picked her up much to her joy.

‘It’s cute that you think you will need it’ she said with a teasing smile and giggled as he lay her down on the bed.

An hour later feeling drained but now once again he was ready as Dany was showering, he went to say goodbye to his little angels before he saw a text from Dacey saying she was outside with Jorah and had urgent news. 

He gave his girls a kiss and informed the security of their mansion to let them in. Jon meanwhile informed Sam to make sure the contracts were ready to be signed for his meeting with Mr. Blackfyre. Though he knew nothing would be signed, he played propriety nevertheless.

One of the many butlers and caretakers informed him that they were in the guest lounge waiting for him and he informed them to tell Dany as soon as she was feasible.

Jon then made his way downstairs and smiled when he saw Dacey sipping her water.

‘Aunt Dacey’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s been a long time.’

She smiled back somewhat nervously and Jon turned his attention to Jorah who had a deep frown on his face. His wife’s fixer was never the most jovial but it was rare to see him have a look of restrained anger, though why he was restrained, he wasn’t sure.

‘They’re so many servants in this place’ Dacey said as she ended the silence.

Jon smiled.

‘They’re called caretakers Dacey not servant, we’re not in medieval times. It’s a whole company that we pay, they take care of everything in the house from the kitchen to the gardens, it’s quite a big house and I can’t clean it by myself’ he gestured.

Dacey laughed somewhat nervously and Jon was ready to question her but he saw a tiny form standing behind her.

The little girl was a copy of Dacey, with a frown on her face. Jon waved at her for her to come out, she looked somewhat sullen and her features reminded him of someone he once knew.

‘Jon this is your cousin, my daughter Lyanna’ Dacey stated as she nudged the little girl forward. Jon stood there in shock.

Lyanna shook his hand tentatively before moving back to her mother.

‘What!?’ came Dany’s shout from the door acquiescing the little girl as if she were an alien.

Jon just looked at Dacey in surprise and held his mouth open. He had so many questions and was ready to lay into her but he remembered the presence of the little girl who stayed frowning.

He couldn’t shout with her here and Dany picked up on his expression as she then went to Lyanna and smiled at the girl.

‘Lyanna why don’t you come with me so we can go play with our daughters’ she said with friendly smirk.

Lyanna looked at her mother for permission before Dacey nodded her assent.

‘Jorah why don’t you join me, there are things I want to discuss’ Dany suggested. Jorah followed the two of them out leaving Jon with his aunt.

He gathered himself.

‘I’m sure you have questions’ Dacey stated as they sat down.

Jon shook his head incredulously.

‘Yeah I fucking do actually’ he said in exasperation. ‘How is it you have a seven year old daughter with my uncle and this is the first time I am hearing of it?’

Dacey looked down with a guilty expression.

‘She’s six’ Dacey joked but her smile fell at Jon’s pointed frown. ‘You never came to Bear Island’ she explained.

Jon looked around the room before narrowing his eyes at her.

‘So it’s my fault that you hid my family from me?’ Jon questioned somewhat angrily.

Dacey shook her head, looking tired and aged.

‘No! But we had to keep her hidden, your family has always been controlling, you know that and just last month they were trying to take everything Benjen and I had earned by ourselves. If Ned had found out he would have told Benjen to return Winterfell and bring my daughter with him and we didn’t want that’ she said with nervous tears sprinkling from her eyes.

Jon huffed out a breath of frustration.

‘She’s your child, they legally can’t take her away’ he pointed out.

She shook her head once again.

‘They could if Ned made the case, if he claimed that I am unfit…’ she hesitated. ‘I didn’t have the most exemplary past Jon and Ned could make a case and build it up; he’s a judge and a senator so he would win. Not to mention that Benjen didn’t want our daughter raised with the pressure of being a Stark, your uncle was close to his sister, hence why we named our daughter that and after what happened to Lyanna, he didn’t want much to do with his family except catching up with them from time to time.’

Jon regarded her for a moment, he understood better than most not wanting anything to do with the Starks.

‘I get that Dacey but what I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me or Jorah for that matter?’ he questioned.

She sighed.

‘We wanted to and there were moments when we almost did but it was never the right time and the longer the lie went on, the harder it was to come clean’ she said with a shrug.

He kept quiet not knowing how to respond.

‘We’re staying at Jorah’s, he wants us to move here permanently and I want to do that, I want my girl far away from the Starks’ she said.

Jon sighed now.

‘And I want my daughter to know her family, especially when they live in big ass houses like this, I mean Seven Hells you need a map to move around’ she joked whilst breaking the tension and both of them laughed.

He stopped chuckling and looked at her seriously.

‘I’m with you Dacey and Uncle Benjen, may he rest his soul. But no more lies or secrets. I won’t have that in my family because it doesn’t help anyone and it doesn’t help that little girl’ he said.

She nodded in acceptance.

His phone buzzed and it was Sam alerting him that Mr. Blackfyre had arrived.

‘Look I have get to jet so Lyanna and I will speak later’ he said as he strolled out.

Sam was waiting for him near the large H when he landed his chopper and stepped out. The fat man was nervous and giddy.

‘How long has he been here?’ he asked without greeting and walked quickly to the conference room in which they would have their meeting.

‘About fifteen minutes’ Sam replied.

Jon studied him.

‘Did you speak to him?’ he asked, a part of him nervous that Blackfyre might have gotten his claws into the fat man.

‘No, you banned me from ever speaking to anyone in your meetings’ Sam replied sourly. Though why he was sour meant nothing to him. Sam would fumble whenever it came to negotiating, while Sam was sharp, he wasn’t devastatingly outspoken and had a lack of cunning in these situations.

‘I’m trying get full ownership of a basketball team, if you get involved then I would end up having to pay five times it’s worth’ he retorted.

He made it to the conference room and found Blackfyre lying on the couch eating a prime breakfast that had been served by the chefs on the executive floor.

‘Mr. Blackfyre’ he greeted when he entered and signaled for Sam to sit quietly in the corner so that he may keep the minutes. The man stood up and Jon was immediately hit by the strong scent of cologne, most likely Caron Poivre. Though the man used it like a teenager would use body-spray.

Blackfyre smiled and shook his hand and Sam had to awkwardly sit down when Varys didn’t notice his output hand that needed to be shaked.

‘Mr. Blackfyre is my father, please call me Varys’ the man said as he sat down and pulled out his own tab.

‘Well Varys I thank you for coming’ he said as he settled himself and unbuttoned his Burberry jacket.

Varys smiled whilst assessing him.

‘I assume traffic was a nightmare, given your lateness’ Varys chirped.

Jon shrugged, unaffected.

‘A famous philosopher once said “that good things come to those who wait so I’m going to be at least about an hour late’ he replied knowing Dany would be rolling her eyes if she were here.

Varys snorted with a knowing smile.

‘As much as I love his verse on Start It Up, I wouldn’t define Kanye West as a philosopher besides if we’re being honest, Fabulous and Lloyd Banks had the better verses in that song’ Varys replied.

Jon stared at him in shock before he broke into a smile.

Sam misread the silence for awkwardness and decided to chime in.

‘I don’t like Kanye West; I’m more of a Swif…’ Jon cut him off before he continued.

‘Sam hush’ he said quickly before turning to Varys. ‘You’re a hip hop fan?’

Varys nodded.

‘I am a man of varied cultures so I appreciate all music even from Sothoryos, though I wouldn’t describe Kanye as real “Hip Hop”’ Varys replied.

‘And what would you describe as real hip hop?’ he asked curiously.

Varys straightened his suit.

‘Actual rap’ Varys replied.

Jon sniffed now gladder that Dany wasn’t here.

‘So you’re one of those hip hop fans, well I still am surprised’ he responded.

The man crossed his legs formally in his grey linen suit and smiled.

‘I am a man of very different tastes and expediency. I believe that’s where you and I differ’ Varys commented.

Jon lifted his brow in question.

‘Are you implying that I’m uncultured?’ he asked.

Varys smirked.

‘I am implying that you are a man of very specific tastes. I have been trying to get a meeting with you for years, you are quite the hard man to reach’ Varys replied.

Jon shrugged.

‘Hedge funds won’t run themselves, I would think you would be able to relate’ he gestured.

Varys Blackfyre was one of the richest men in all of Planetos, a Valyrian born native who emigrated to Pentos in which he built up his network and expanded it into his fearsome firm. A firm worth up to one hundred fifty billion. Almost thirty billion more than Ice & Fire, temporarily. There was even a rumor that he had been the one who secretly backed the Golden Company.

‘So much is true though I was hoping your wife would be here, her reputation precedes her as yours does you’ Varys stated charmingly.

If he had been younger he may have lapped up the compliment from someone so prominent but he knew better than to be buttered up.

‘I’m not going to waste your time’ he said. ‘I recently purchased Crownland Warriors and it’s almost in completion but it’s come to my knowledge you bought twenty percent a week before I had my sights set on them.’

Varys nodded in mischief as Sam came over and handed him the relevant documents.

‘Well I have always been passionate about basketball’ Varys said with a smile.

Jon sniffed. ‘I can tell just by looking at you that you’re a true athlete.’

They both laughed, Sam didn’t and he buttoned up his suit jacket self-consciously to hide his belly before sitting back down.

‘The owner of Crownland Warriors approached you when he found out that I wanted certified financial statements as a stakeholder’ he said. ‘And you used that opportunity to silently gain ownership of twenty percent.’

Varys shrugged.

‘Like I said I am a fan of cultured man and a fan of basketball’ Varys replied cheekily.

‘The valuation of the club is 1,5 billion, twenty percent would mean that three hundred million for your shares is a fair price considering you bought them for two hundred million’ he said.

Varys merely nodded as he stroked his chin.

‘It would appear that way but we both know that you will pump a billion in capital into the club. And your fixer, what’s his name again?’ Varys clicked his fingers in recollection.

‘Satin right? Well word has it that he has been making rounds and gathering every elite NBA player and you are hiring a former MVP all-star who just got his coaching badges to coach the team, even if he didn’t have any training in coaching I am sure he would still win with this team’ Varys said with a chuckle ‘Regardless, so many fans will flock to your club and your team will be worth fifteen billion come July’ Varys stated.

Jon stilled his poker face but the same couldn’t be said for Sam who blinked in surprise and amazement at Varys figuring out his plan for the basketball team.

Even if he wanted to lie, he couldn’t bluff Varys now thanks to Sam.

‘Yes but what I do with my club is my business’ he said.

Varys smiled.

‘Technically our club and instead of paying twenty percent of 1,5 billion. I want twenty percent of fifteen billion as is fair when considering the capital budgeting of it all’ Varys replied.

Jon regarded him for a moment.

‘You’re playing a very dangerous game baldie, just 3 weeks ago someone tried to pull a stunt like this and now I own him and every single thing he was worth’ he said.

Varys shrugged.

‘I think I can safely say that I am not Salladhor Saan and unlike him I know how to play the game. If you want to have a global mega club that pumps out money then I expect 3 billion in my account, otherwise we will be co-shareholders’ Varys said as he buttoned his suit jacket, he shook Sam’s hand and made his way out.

Jon clenched his jaw in annoyance. Varys had fallen for the bait

Sam stood there like a useless mannequin waiting for what he would do.

‘What are we going to do?’ Sam asked worriedly.

Jon swiveled in his chair.

‘For now nothing’ he said as he stood up and left his office.

He walked into Tyrion’s office whilst the man was on a phone call.

Tyrion immediately hung up and frowned when he saw him sit down.

‘Jon what can do for you?’ Tyrion asked in a sour tone.

‘Varys is pulling the same bullshit Daario tried to do, the owner informed him that I was interested in buying the club and he pounced’ he said.

Tyrion stared at him for a moment.

‘You offered him the Market Value for the remainder?’ his COO asked.

‘Yeah and he asked for the Net Present Value after I took over and he knew what I instructed Satin to do’ he said pointedly.

Tyrion frowned immediately. Hearing the accusation in his tone.

‘You think I informed him of what you intended?’ Tyrion asked offended.

Jon shrugged.

‘I don’t know but what I do know is that you and humpty dumpty are good friends and this could be your opportunity to start a ploy you engineered that would make me want to team up with your father’ he stated.

Tyrion gave him a look of offense and resignation.

‘I didn’t do that and you’re only saying that because you want a reason to remove me from my position’ Tyrion stated angrily. ‘You’ve never wanted me here. Well guess what Jon, I am here because your wife wants me here.’

He laughed now.

‘The past year you have given me plenty of reasons to let you go and I gave you the benefit of the doubt because we were friends but enough is enough so as of now consider this formal notice of your suspension’ he said.

Tyrion’s eyes widened. ‘Jon please, I didn’t inform him of anything. Varys found this out on his own. He has one of the best networks in all of Planetos’

Jon sniffed.

‘I don’t believe you now go home and let me sort out this mess and if you’ve ever valued our time working together. You will go quietly and not involve yourself with Varys at all or I will fire you here and now’ he said.

He left Tyrion’s office angrily when his phone rang and he almost ignored it but he saw that it was Arya and decided to take a few breaths to calm himself down.

‘Arya’ he said.

‘Hey is this a bad time?’ she asked.

‘Sure what is it?’ he asked back.

Arya sighed on the other side.

‘I need a favor’ she said.

Jon stood outside of Missandei’s office.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘Robb is meeting Senator Mance Rayder tomorrow and he wants you there’ she said.

He arched his head in surprise.

‘He wants me there?’ he asked.

‘He is in over his head and he said that this was your idea in the first place. Look I don’t know all the details, you have to ask Robb’ she said.

He frowned whilst staring at his phone.

‘And why isn’t Robb the one who is asking?’ he questioned.

Arya sighed.

‘You know why, he’s scared you will snap at him but he’s been through a lot and he needs your help’ she stated in the firmest voice that she’d ever had with him.

He bit the inside of his cheek.

‘Arya there’s a lot of shit I need to deal with other than a little politics’ he argued.

‘Jon I have never asked you for anything. When you left to live your life, people around here wanted me to forget you, like the rest of them did but I didn’t because you are my brother and I love you but Robb is my brother as well. I don’t pick sides and the two of you may act like you don’t make it seem that way but you do. So all I am asking is that you spare a day or two and help him because I know you can.’

Her voice was wavering as Jon stood still outside the door.

Jon sighed now.

‘Alright Arya, take him to my house, flight will be there in two hours’ he said before he hung up.

Jon then walked into Missandei’s office and he found her waiting with Grey and her assistant. The look on her face told her everything.

‘You heard?’ he asked.

She nodded.

‘Fill Dany in that I am heading North, she said she was spending the day with her mother. And I need you to find someone to accompany me because I’m rusty when it comes to Northern politics and I will need to be briefed’ he said.

Missandei regarded in thought.

‘Why don’t you let me come with you cause I won’t be able to find someone and test them in short notice?’ she asked.

He shook his head.

‘I need you here as acting COO’ he said.

Missandei gave him a confused look.

‘Tyrion?’ she asked.

‘He’s suspended indefinitely’ he replied.

Both Grey and her were surprised by that news.

‘What happened?’ she asked.

‘Varys not only bought the remaining shares of the team but he knew my intent for it and that Satin was scouting for me in order to turn the club into a behemoth’ he said grumpily.

Missandei shut her eyes in exasperation.

‘And he is using the intent to leverage money from you’ Grey replied. Jon nodded to his financial securities expert.

Missandei then looked up.

‘You want me to figure out a way to get those shares from Varys’ she said intuitively.

‘Precisely’ he said. ‘Nudho will help you with it.’

Grey stood up from his seat.

‘When do you need it Sir?’ he asked.

‘Yesterday’ Jon replied and he watched the man scurry away.

Missandei gathered her files whilst she looked at her assistant who sat quietly in the corner before she looked at him.

‘I think you should take Rhaenys along’ she said.

Both Rhaenys and him looked up.

‘What? Why?’ he asked.

‘Rhaenys got a distinction in Political Science and is well versed in Northern bureaucracy’ Missandei answered.

Jon gave her a nonplussed expression.

‘And my secretary has a 4.5 GPA, you don’t see me bringing her alone’ he said.

‘Jon I need you to take her, trust me on this I know what I am doing’ Missandei replied.

He looked at his little sister’s Dornish friend and the girl was eyeing him warily.

‘Ok.’

They were an hour into their flight as Jon left the cockpit of his private jet after having a lengthy debate with the pilots over the latest game that had occurred.

He entered the cabin finding Rhaenys who sat there with her plate and her food finished along with her laptop open and an unholy amount of tabs open in her browser with research on Northern delegates.

One of the air hostesses came to take her plate and Jon laughed at the uncut crust.

‘God you eat like my daughters, they also don’t eat the crust like animals. They learnt it from their mother, seven knows where she learnt it from?’ he said whilst looking out the window ignoring the look of knowing that Rhaenys had before she twisted her finger.

Jon smirked when he saw her eyes widen in wonder at the snowy plains they flew across.

'Never seen snow before?' he questioned

She nodded eagerly.

'Yeah it looks cold' she said.

'You'll get used to it' he replied. Whilst texting Dany they were about to land.

'Ok so before we go in, I feel I should warn you' he said.

Rhaenys furrowed her brow in interest and Jon had to blink twice because she almost looked like Dany when she did that. He snapped his fingers to gain her attention.

'The North is a country that values old tradition and holds proudly to their old values' he said.

Rhae was still confused.

'I don't understand?' She questioned.

Jon smiled at her naive innocence.

'To put it plainly, they're super xenophobic. Typical Northern country folk' he explained.

Rhaenys shrunk at that.

'Oh' she replied.

Jon nodded.

'And they extend those notions to foreigners and you are Dornish' he said.

'So are you' she replied.

He chuckled lowly.

'Yeah but I don't look it' he said addressing the elephant in the room. 'And whilst I would have loved bringing Missandei, well...'

Rhaenys nodded in understanding.

'I'm half Valyrian if that helps' she added.

He laughed now loudly.

'It doesn't' he said. 'Now they aren't cartoonishly bigoted, no one is going to be overt in your face, in fact some are going to be over cordial with you. But you're going to get looks and side-eyes like you burnt an orphanage. It's going to rankle your nerves, like it would anyone else.'

'And you want me to ignore it' she stated intuitively.

He nodded at her quickness.

'I do, so I need you to keep your cool because if they’re all Northern fools and if you snap at them then you will give them what they want because fools thrive when there is anger about’ he said.

She was soaking in his words.

'Yeah?' he asked her to see if she understood.

Rhaenys took a deep breath and nodded that she understood. And Jon didnt know why he

was thinking of Rhaella when she did that.

Jon pulled up in his driveway after testing out the new blue custom merc and unsurprisingly he found the Jeep and the Camry parked side by side.

He knew that they were sitting in the lounge so he instructed one of the housekeeper’s to bring Robb to his study.

Rhaenys sat beside him with her pad open.

Jon gave her an inquisitive look .

‘Oh Missandei told me it’s important to always seem like you are typing everything down. It makes it seem official and the person won’t preamble and waste time when they think it’s official’ she said after she noticed his look.

He laughed somewhat.

‘There’s nothing official about any of this’ he said before the door opened for the housekeeper who let Robb in.

His brother smiled at him.

‘I didn’t think you would show’ Robb stated as he made his way towards them.

‘I didn’t think I had to, you have Arya to thank for that. Basically guilt tripped me into coming’ he said as he watched him greet Rhaenys before taking a seat opposite him.

‘I would have asked you myself but I knew you wouldn’t say no to Arya and Arya wouldn’t have asked if this wasn’t serious’ he said.

Jon leaned back in his chair a little impatiently.

‘Father is in the lounge with mother, Sansa is here as well. Theon is in rehab…’ he cut him off before he continued further.

‘Robb why am I here?’ he asked him.

Robb glanced to Rhaenys before anxiety prickled him.

‘I need your help’ Robb answered.

‘With what?’ Jon asked.

‘With Mance’ Robb replied.

Jon bit back his smile.

‘Are you telling me you couldn’t get it done?’ he questioned somewhat unimpressed.

Robb held his slim briefcase tightly.

‘I am saying it’s not yet done and I need help getting it done cause there have been complications’ Robb stated with a desperate edge to his voice.

‘And when we spoke the last time I told you that if you couldn’t get it done then maybe you shouldn’t be Mayor of Winterfell’ he said.

Robb groaned.

‘A Mayor of Winterfell doesn’t need to convene other Northern congressmen along with the Free-Folk parliament’ Robb replied in annoyance.

Jon’s eyes widened and so did Rhaenys. There is no way Robb would be so daft as to let the rest of the Northern Lords into what he was doing.

‘Why would you convene both of them?’ Rhaenys asked before she caught herself. ‘Sorry I didn’t mean to speak, it’s a stupid question.’

He shook his head in disagreement.

‘No it’s not a stupid question, it’s an obvious one. Northern politicians don’t like the Free-Folk and vice versa, you were supposed to do this quietly and have father announce his running mate in September when it’s too late to back out, it’s literally only February. You’re not this stupid Robb, why would you turn this into shit?’ he asked Robb.

Robb shook his head but he could see agreement in his eyes.

‘Cause I believe in transparency and I don’t like doing underhanded maneuvers’ Robb replied but his eyes didn’t resonate with the statement and he immediately knew. Only one person would actually make such a statement.

‘Oh you’ve got to be shitting me, father did this’ he said as he nursed his temples.

‘Aye’ Robb said.

Jon stood up from his chair.

‘Fucking honorable moron’ he said as he paced the room before he looked at Robb. ‘Bring him in here.’

Jon looked down at the table as Robb left.

Rhaenys shifted uneasily when the group returned and he didn’t miss the look that Catelyn gave to the both of them.

Catelyn followed behind father, along with Sansa who had been helping Robb for the summer.

The four of them took their seats as his father assessed him momentarily before looking at Rhaenys and he gave her a friendly smile.

‘I am Senator Ned Stark’ he said as he went to shake her hand and Jon saw the frown on Catelyn’s face. ‘You are?’

Rhaenys smiled.

‘Rhaenys Martell’ she said but it sounded incredibly unnatural as if she was not used to using the surname. Jon’s spidey senses tingled and he promised himself he would look into it later.

‘Martell, as in the Dornish President’s…’

‘Niece’ Rhaenys finished.

Ned nodded with a smile before turning to him.

‘In college your mother had a friend named Elia Martell’ his father stated. The man could not read the room properly given that his wife scowled like a woman whose food just got farted on.

Before his father could misread any social cues, Jon spoke.

‘You called an assembly of your constituents to attend a meeting that should remain disclosed, are you insane?’ he questioned trying to keep his tone even. Being disrespectful wouldn’t get him far

Father stared at Robb with a frown and Jon was somewhat glad that it appeared they had a heated argument over it but strangely his father didn’t have that heir of stubborn defiance.

‘Aye I did, I ran my court with honor and I will run my cabinet with honor. I will not lie to my constituents, I will follow the book of the law’ father finally answered but his tone didn’t garner certainty and he noticed how his wife clutched his hand tightly.

Jon raised a brow at him as if he were a simpleton.

‘You’re not lying, you’re just not disclosing information so early as is your right because it’s not required yet and it will cause nothing but chaos in your own party. I am not a politician and even I know that’ he said.

His father shook his head.

‘But I would still be keeping it from my constituents who are loyal to me and I plan to be loyal to them’ father stated and again it lacked the stubbornness his father would usually have.

Catelyn’s hand held his forearm in approval. It suddenly clicked.

‘Loyal to them? When they ask you your policy on Free-Folk reform and you tell them that you will treat them like Northern Citizens, half of your loyal constituents will jump ship to Roose. Particularly Karstark and Umber, they literally boasted about it at Uncle Benjen’s funeral’ he stated.

Ned looked at Catelyn pointedly who grimaced but his wife’s face went to stone before it turned unyielding and Ned looked back at him with a sigh.

‘You don’t know that’ Ned said.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

‘I do know that. Because Karstark and Umber are going to ask you what is your intended policy on Free-Folk who want to emigrate from the boarders of the Wall to the Northern Republic and you’re going to claim you are liberal towards it and they don’t want that because when a certain terrorist group from the Iron Islands sailed here, they infiltrated Free Folk bases and used them as insurgents to storm those lands and kill those people’ he said, slightly shocked he had to give the future president a history lesson to prove the obvious.

‘And this has been happening from the age of heroes, if you don’t cancel this meeting and make sure it’s just us and Mance’s party then you will be asked to address it and being liberal will make you lose both sides. Because Karstark will want you to condemn them cause of a few bad apples who sided with terrorists. Mance will want you to hale the Free-Folk because not only where their lands Beyond the Wall that were the most hurt by the Iron-borne but the Free-Folk had the highest number of men enlisted to fight them, my friend Grenn included’ he added.

‘So do the right thing and cancel the appointment with the other congressmen and invite President Manderly only. He will inform the other constituents who are need to know’ he said. ‘And it will be a great show of intent to Mance.’

Ned regarded him and looked at his wife.

‘I can’t Jon’ his father replied.

‘Why not?’ he asked. It was Catelyn who answered.

‘Because Mance can’t be trusted. Ned won’t be able to control his parliament if there are Wildlings in it’ Catelyn stated.

Jon blinked before he turned to Robb knowing that when his father stubbornly set his mind to something that was it.

‘You want my advice Robb, declare for Roose Bolton. I can’t help you’ he said as he signaled to Rhaenys for her to pack her things.

‘No wait’ Robb stated before turning to father. ‘Father I am cancelling the appointments of all the congressmen arriving at Karhold tomorrow or I am withdrawing my campaign, I will not lose because of you. Because if you do this the only way I win is if I join Roose and I would rather cut off my own arm.’

Robb’s tone was stern and Jon was slightly taken aback because he had never heard him speak to father this way.

Ned regarded him with his jaw clenched. He never liked it when someone challenged him.

‘I am the head of this campaign’ father responded.

Robb sidled up to him.

‘We all know who is paying for this and we all know how grandfather feels about you considering my brother over there, me on the other hand he loves, I am a Tully after all’ his brother challenged. ‘

Father didn’t say anything, he just stormed out. Robb looked at his mother pointedly who for the first time he had ever seen her, was looking at Robb in disappointment.

‘I will get him to calm down and see reason. Given how Uncle Brandon died, the two of them hold ire for Wildlings’ Robb stated as Catelyn walked out.

Jon was still reeling at the fact that he had challenged father.

‘Are you with me tomorrow?’ Robb asked.

He looked at both Rhaenys and Sansa who were watching him expectantly.

‘I am not politician Robb’ he replied.

Robb shook his head.

‘Yes but you know how to get deals done and father taught us about the North before you left, you know enough’ Robb replied. ‘I need to have a show of force and nothing screams show of force better than having one of the most powerful people in the world by your side.’

‘Fine but on two conditions, one, father is to do everything I say and your mother is not getting involved at all’ he said.

Robb nodded.

‘Second?’ Robb asked.

‘I will let you know when I think of it’ he said.

Robb nodded to Sansa who sped away.

His phone rang as he was catching up on Rugby highlights and saw Dany’s smiling face on the display tab.

‘Where are you?’ he heard Lizzie ask and he didn’t need to see her face to know that she was pouting.

‘I am in Winterfell, where are you princess?’ he asked her back in a playful tone.

Lizzie was not amused.

‘Beauty and the Beast is tonight’ the four year old said in that toddler-y tone of hers.

Jon scrunched his eyes, he had forgotten.

Throughout all the craziness of the day he had forgotten that they had installed an ice rink in which both Lizzie and him would practice Beauty and the Beast. With him being the beast naturally given his beard.

‘I am so sorry princess, something happened and it completely blindsided me. An emergency with my fam.. with people in the North. Can you forgive me?’ he asked her in his sweetest voice.

She remained silent on the other side.

‘Please?’ he begged her. ‘I will turn on video chat and I will pout, you know you can’t say no to my pouts.’

Lizzie released a sigh.

‘Fine I forgive you daddy ‘ she relented. ‘Only cause mommy is also upset with you.

He smiled.

‘Thank you sweetheart, now can you put mommy on the phone and gave Ally a kiss?’ he asked her.

He waited a moment before Dany’s voice appeared.

‘How’s Winterfell?’ she asked, her tone surly and annoyed.

Jon sighed.

‘You heard about Tyrion’ he said knowing it would be what pushed her ire.

‘Well I was spending time with my mother when he came to see me, I thought you and I agreed to give him a chance’ she stated furiously.

‘I didn’t agree to that, I said that you should have fired him because he is going to do something that hurts us in the long run and you know I am right’ he said.

‘He said he didn’t do this Jon’ she replied.

Jon had been half paying attention, distracted by the drop kick he witnessed on the screen.

‘I know he didn’t do it’ he stated.

‘So you suspended him for no reason?’ she asked.

He shook his head.

‘Oh I have plenty of reasons, in fact on those reasons alone I could sue him. Dany he is a liability and it’s time for Missandei to move up’ he said. ‘You’re either going to back me on this or reverse my decision and play into Tyrion’s hands.’

She released a huff of breath.

‘Fine’ she said.

‘Wove you’ he said in babyish voice before blowing kisses on the line.

She rolled her eyes but Jon could tell that she was smiling. He told her goodnight before hanging up and walking downstairs.

Jon found Rhaenys paging through random files.

‘What’s that’ Jon asked.

Rhaenys looked up and stared at him.

‘Sansa gave me random files she had on Mance and I thought I would do some digging’ she said.

Jon nodded before grabbing a file.

‘This is a lot of information’ he said.

Rhaenys shrugged.

‘Oh I’m used to it for my Business and Theology assignment we had to do loads of research and order them, it’s fun when you act like you’re doing investigative work, like Sherlock piecing through clues’ she said with a smile.

She had a tenacity about her so far he could see, just like Dany.

‘Well I have a million people under my employ who are meant to do this for me’ he said as he opened a folder that detailed Mance visiting Essos fifteen years ago.

‘Why don’t you use them for right now, not that I am complaining about this to find something…’ she said in a flustered tone.

He smiled.

‘I would have but I found out about this today and dear old dad doesn’t believe in using technology and most of this is backdated in physical files, the amount of time it would take for us to scan this and email it would be too late considering the meeting is to occur tomorrow and the research would be a waste of time’ he said as he threw away a file with the financial statements pertaining to the last year.

‘How come?’ Rhaenys asked.

‘Because you’re not going to find anything’ he replied.

Rhaenys scrunched her nose in offense.

‘Like embezzlement or fraud you never know, I think I could find it’ she asked.

Jon laughed at her naiveté.

‘Mance is an experienced politician and if the IRS can’t find anything what makes you think a varsity student in her final year can. Even so these are public records you’re looking at, you won’t find a picture of him wearing a burglar’s uniform whilst holding a bag with a dollar sign. If he is embezzling or partaking in any fraud, there is no way you find it just like that, this isn’t an episode of Ballers.’ He said.

Rhaenys giggled now and Jon was struck with how similar it was to Lizzie, in fact the whole day he had noticed the few quirks of Missandei’s assistant.

A thought struck him in his head as he remembered how father would say that both Arya and him were a lot like their Aunt Lyanna.

‘Your stepmother’ she said as he took a seat on the couch. ‘You said I would get looks.’

He nodded.

‘Oh that’s just Catelyn being Catelyn, she’s given me that look for years’ he said.

Rhaenys studied him.

‘I get it now’ she said.

He had been staring at the wall absent-mindedly.

‘Get what?’ he asked.

‘Why you dislike your father so much. I didn’t get it earlier cause he seemed humble and nice if not a bit stubborn and foolish. But the way you spoke to him… it seemed as if you wanted nothing to do with him, it was the same with your brother and stepmother but even I can see you care about your brother. But with your father it’s different and I didn’t understand up until now because if Catelyn can look at you like that and he has done nothing then he ignored it which means he doesn’t care to do anything about it or he agrees with the looks himself either way’ she stated.

Her eyes shined with knowing before she realized what she had just said and her cheeks flushed with horror.

‘Sorry I didn’t mean… your sister has brought it up once or twice to me and the pieces connected’ she said but he raised his hand.

‘No it’s fine, I see why Allyria and Missandei like you so much’ he chuckled. Rhaenys released a sigh of relief.

Though that analysis held another meaning judging by the way Rhaenys eyes shined.

‘I’m assuming your father is the same’ he deduced.

A sparkle of fear flashed in her eyes before Rhaenys looked at him.

‘He is, my dad he’s a musician and he never quite made it, I loved him nevertheless because he was humble, quiet and nice and charming. My uncle Doran always thought he was a bum who hit the jackpot by getting my mom pregnant. I always thought my uncle was an asshole for thinking that. But my other uncle, my favorite uncle Oberyn. He was always free spirited and more tolerant but even he felt the same way and it never made sense. It wasn’t until I found out my dad’s many secrets…’ she hesitated. ‘Basically my dad isn’t who he says he is, so much so that he doesn’t even know I am working for your company.’

Jon nodded and went to the counter to pour them both whiskeys.

‘To shitty fathers’ he said and she accepted the glass with a smile.

‘To shitty fathers’ she replied and they clinked their glasses.

Jon was placed in his seat as the plane headed for Karhold and he reviewed what Missandei had conducted so far, not that he needed to, Missandei had handled herself well which brought a smirk to his face.

He sensed movement opposite him and he turned to see his father wearing a suit that was surprisingly tailored to fit him and not the typical ones that criminals in the 1920s would wear. Robb took the seat next to father whilst Jon was typing away his response for any concern he would have.

‘Researching on Mance?’ Robb asked him.

He shook his head.

‘No catching up on invoices, why?’ he said whilst he typed away.

Robb shared a glance with his father.

‘Your employee Rhaenys was doing that’ Robb commented. He smiled fondly, something that his father noticed and misread and immediately frowned at.

‘Rhaenys is fresh out of varsity, she thinks that things like “research” matter’ he said with a smirk.

‘Is it wise’ he heard his father mutter though he wasn’t sure until he saw Robb nodding for him not to start.

‘Is what wise?’ he asked as he looked up from his laptop and straightened his Bulgari glasses.

Ned frowned and Jon knew that look of judgment from the many times he had been on the receiving end of it.

‘Bringing a young Dornish girl to your home and not sending her to a hotel when you’re a married man’ his father replied.

Robb shut his eyes as if he had warned father to not say what he just said.

‘Well if wisdom dictates that a married man shouldn’t fraternize with a Dornish girl in college then I wouldn’t be born would I?’ he replied sharply and father at least the decency to cringe under his gaze.

‘And with regards to Rhaenys, I didn’t identify how she looks because I am her boss and that’s inappropriate and even if I did, you seen my wife right? I don’t think you need to worry about me cheating.’

‘Now if you’re done projecting yourself on to me and giving shitty advice, let’s talk strategy’ he said as he looked at the both of them seriously.

Robb straightened his stance and pulled out his pad. Father grumbled but stayed seated.

‘Do you want to know our policies and terms of our presidential partnership?’ Robb asked.

He shook his head.

‘No I don’t care because whatever terms you offer him, Mance is going to shit on them even if your terms are reasonable which means you should keep your cool and try to wear him down. Don’t let him provoke you and keep calm’ he said.

Robb gently tapped on his pad as if he were soaking that information for himself.

‘And how will that work?’ Robb asked somewhat confused.

‘We need to be courteous; these people have grievances with us considering the stance our grandfather had with regards to them so being calm and collected is the way. To that end, Robb you need to do all the talking. I won’t utter a word unless spoken to. Father I need you silent throughout’ he stated.

As expected, Ned wasn’t happy with that.

‘You want me to name this man as my vice president but don’t want me to lead the negotiation. Are you serious?’ Ned asked somewhat affronted.

‘I am, in this case it will help’ he replied with no emotion placed in his tone.

‘And why on earth would I do that? This is my campaign’ Ned stated.

He nodded.

‘Yeah but it’s also Robb’s and we need this to go seamlessly, you are asking this man to give up his seat of power to be your number two so we need to be friendly. In high school, Robb was always a good debater, he knows how to channel a conversation and be cordial to someone he doesn’t like’ he reprimanded.

Ned stood up and started pacing on his private jet. 

‘And you think I can’t?’ his father asked. Jon wanted to point out this exact moment as an example that he couldn’t.

But he remained quiet which exasperated his father more.

‘No I can’t do this Robb, as much as I want your brother here. Jon doesn’t respect me and I can’t trust my campaign with someone like that. Not to mention that out of the three of you here, I have been in parliament longer than either of you have been alive’ his father stated.

Jon detected some hurt in his tone and the baser part of him wanted to revel in it. But then he thought of Arya and gained back some of his control.

‘You’re right, I don’t know politics but I know people. That’s my job and I am good at my job’ he said.

His father scoffed but not disrespectfully, somewhat perplexed and not really affirmed to this plan. And in all fairness this was a radical plan.

‘This isn’t some million dollar deal you get out of bed for’ his father replied. ‘This is my career and Robb’s; we are risking it with this plan’

He softened somewhat slightly at the honesty and bit back the retort that he would never get out of bed for a measly million dollars.

‘Yes but like I said, I know people and I am good at my job’ he said as he walked to the counter and poured himself some water, he was tempted with the whiskey but it was still bright and early. ‘For example, it wasn’t you who called your constituents to attend the initial meeting, it was Catelyn. Wasn’t it?’

Watching father straighten his face was all the confirmation he needed. Though it was amusing to see Robb’s shocked look before a frown enveloped his face.

‘You’re a lot of things father ranging from stubborn to downright idiotic but you’re not bigoted and I know Catelyn is. I told Robb that joining the Free-Folk would be a credible idea and he told you and his mother, you were passive on the whole thing, surprise-surprise but Catelyn was against it. And she probably told you its cause their wildlings blah blah blah and our Uncle Brandon. When we all know that the real reason is that I came up with the idea and in her pettiness she made the calls to blow this whole thing up thinking that your constituents would make you see reason even if half of them plan on joining Roose regardless. Robb thought it was you and you took the blame. But now Robb forced the plan to go through without your say so and yesterday she told you that this was a bad idea and told you a whole host of demeaning things that made you feel emasculated so you can throw a fit. That’s why you brought up some bullshit about Rhaenys and why you’re so bent out of shape right now because both your sons are looking at you as a hindrance’ he said as he sipped his water.

‘Am I wrong?’ he asked them both as they remained quiet. He took his father’s silence as confirmation that he wasn’t.

‘And if you feel that way about your sons at this exact moment and if Catelyn of all people can rattle you. What happens when Mance attacks our family history when you speak to him?’ he asked pointedly.

Father looked down recognizing his logic.

‘Let Robb lead the meeting. Your name in court is the Quiet Wolf, be that for this meeting’ he said.

The car service took them to the convention Centre and en route they met with the current President Manderly.

He wasn’t pleased with what they were doing judging by the way he shook their hands with a frown as they entered the Karhold Hall.

‘I hope you know what you’re doing Stark, I’ve thrown my hat in the ring with you cause you and your family are respected members of court and parliament but teaming up with Wildling foreigners’ Manderly said with a scoff.

He eyed Rhaenys when he uttered the word ‘foreigners’ but Jon glared sharply at the current president for him to watch himself.

To Rhaenys credit she had kept her composure and stood next to Sansa as the two of them entered the hall bright eyed. They had built an odd friendship and Jon found much to his surprise how friendly they were, he wondered if university had changed the girl because she had abandoned the snooty and prissy attitude she had adopted from her mother and was a touch kinder.

Jon didn’t think their meeting would meet any potential hiccups but as a man who has worked with powerful people long enough, he should have known that the unexpected always occurred.

And Val being the one to greet them was one such surprise. She smiled warmly at them though her smile grew tense when she laid her eyes on both her and Robb.

Whilst Robb maintained his composure, a nerve of anxiety seemed to have startled him. Jon gave him a pointed look to remain relaxed. No doubt Mance had put her there on purpose.

But given that both Karsi (Grenn’s wife) and Tormund (Ygritte’s brother) stood at the table with other attendees, Jon was certain Mance didn’t do it out of malice, he did it because of familiarity. He was also surprised to see Ygritte make an appearance herself as she stood and instructed other cops as security detail.

Ned and Mance shook hands along with Manderly and Jon had the urge to slap them both given how grim they looked when they did it.

‘I thank you for joining us gentlemen’ Mance said before turning to both Sansa and Rhaenys. ‘And ladies, it’s always a joy that Free-Folk are part of Northern politics and now it seems the Dornish as well.’

Mance gave them all a smile before sitting.

‘So let’s begin’ Mance stated as he put on his reading glasses and accepted the document that Sansa handed over to him.

‘Before we begin President elect’ Tormund said with a smile, his blue eyes looking at both him and Robb playfully. ‘Sixteen years ago I was making two pimply boys do push-ups; now look at them all prim and proper. Bullying does work.’

The room laughed and Jon kept his expression amused, Robb on the other hand frowned slightly. It always startled Jon how similar to father he looked when he smiled but when he frowned he was his mother through and through. Many had said that he was the exact opposite.

‘Quite right’ Mance said in his deep booming voice and he had noticed the frown on Robb’s face and smirked.

They all took copies of the agreement between both parties and signed an NDA for these events meetings. Everyone had the proposal in front of them and Jon would have laughed in disbelief at Tormund who looked the typical Free-Folk but donned on his glasses to parcel through the words before him. Gone was the burly rugby captain he knew and the man who threatened to beat him within an inch of his life should he harm his little sister, an energy he didn’t keep when Jon had found Ygritte with Theon at that pool party.

Speaking of women that cheated on him with one of his brothers, Jon could feel Val staring at him. Not that he looked back but he was sure that Robb was staring at her because of discomfort.

Though luckily the five minutes Robb had given them to read on the contract was done and he stood up to address everyone. Jon hadn’t bothered reading the contract and sat quietly in the corner as he assessed the two parties.

‘Ladies and Gentlemen, you have seen the agreement before you. An agreement to enter into a partnership of presidency should we win…’ Robb rambled on about the particulars of the agreement, stating who would be sitting in office and who wouldn’t.

When he was done he took his seat and the little bit of anxiety that Robb had garnered when he entered was gone and father smiled at Robb before giving him a proud and brief nod. Jon felt somewhat irritable over the nod, feeling a childhood inadequacy creeping on him from childhood jealousy. But he washed it away and looked at Mance who was eyeing down the physical document before him and he saw that smirk plaster onto Mance’s face.

‘That was a fantastic presentation young wolf and these terms are very agreeable. Having my people share positions of cabinet is a dream’ Mance stated. ‘Although I do have an issue with a statute of our agreement, 3.15.’

Robb opened the agreement.

‘The statute says that in pursuant to roles of leadership, Eddard Stark will be known as the President of the Northern Republic and Mance Rayder the Vice President’ Robb replied.

Mance put down the contract with a smile and tapped his index finger on the document.

‘Aye, I find it problematic I think it would be better served if it was the inverse, wouldn’t you say Orell?’ Mance questioned.

The man with sandy blonde hair that was sitting next to Mance smiled.

‘Aye I would say that it would be better’ Orell replied and he flashed Jon a snide smile before looking back at Robb.

Manderly, Ned and Robb shifted uncomfortably but Jon saw it for what it was.

‘You can’t be serious’ Manderly sprouted angrily.

Mance sniffed.

‘Oh I am deadly serious Mr. President, you have served two terms in which my people haven’t seen much boon, and I would ensure that they see it with me as head of state’ Mance replied with a dry voice.

‘We are doing you a favor, no one is going to vote for a bloody …’ Manderly held his tongue but Jon knew the word he would utter and he cursed himself for not getting to speak to Wyman before the meeting, he had just assumed the president would have a bit more decorum to temper his rage.

‘Wildlings yes?’ Mance finished for him. ‘It’s okay to say it. It is who we are but as for the favor, you are not the one doing me the favor. I am. You know that Karstark and Umber are going to leave you because you don’t have an anti-Wildling stance’ Mance commented.

Ned shook his head.

‘Aye we hold no malice for your people but Roose does’ Ned replied.

Mance shrugged.

‘And you think just because you aren’t prejudiced against my people that makes us allies. Roose Bolton may try deport us and sanction harsher rules on my people but he will look vicious and my people will feel emboldened to fight to him even more, me being your second in command doesn’t mean progress for my people it just makes us docile’ Mance stated.

Robb shook his head.

‘No it won’t because the facts are that you don’t have the votes, the people trust Manderly and they trust my father, they remember that one of our better Presidents was my great grandfather who ushered in change and allowed the Free-Folk to become citizens in the first place. And now almost half of your people will sit in cabinet and you will establish yourself alongside my father and one day you may be president yourself if you wait your turn’ Robb stated.

Mance smiled.

‘A tempting offer but that change is too slow for my liking, I don’t believe revolution through evolution. I believe in radicalism young Stark. I believe in equal rights for my people. And yes we may lose to Bolton but Bolton would start a war with our people that will radicalize change quicker so as pleased as we are with this offer. We don’t accept, you can consider these terms rejected’ Mance replied as he shut the file.

Jon waited for Robb or father to say something but he couldn’t blame them for their silence. He couldn’t fault Mance’s logic either, many Free-Folk weren’t marginalized and maligned under Manderly but Roose is such an animal that it would entice them to stand up for change.

‘So any agreement we can come to is dead in the water?’ Robb asked and Mance nodded solemnly but Jon was watching the sandy blonde haired man who muttered something to Tormund and given how Karsi shook her head in disgust and hissed at them, he knew he hadn’t misread his lips. Jon smiled at the idiot giving him an opportunity to save this meeting. Val had been watching him the whole time

‘As dead as your wife’ the man had said to Tormund, and Giantsbane had shook his head in cringe, somewhat mortified by the dark joke.

He hadn’t missed it.

‘I am sorry’ he said finally speaking in the meeting and he watched everyone turn to him. Mance looked at him in interest as if he had been waiting for him to speak. ‘I didn’t catch what you just said.’

His eyes were firmly on Orell, Tormund bowed his head in shame but Orell didn’t back down and shrugged with a smile.

‘You mentioned my dead sister in law, Talissa’ he said as his voice reverberated around the conference room.

Robb gave him a pained look but Jon kept his gaze on Orell. Mance turned sharply to his second in command but the look of chastisement was fake, in fact Jon was sure he appreciated this bullish side to the man.

‘I didn’t say that at all’ Orell said with a smug smile.

‘I didn’t catch your name, I mean I know Tormund obviously but I don’t know you. Your name is Orell right?’ he asked.

Orell chuckled lowly.

‘Yes it is’ Orell replied.

Mance looked at the both of them in intrigue.

Jon turned to Rhaenys.

‘Write down both of their names, Tormund and Orell. I want their names put on my agenda’ he said to Rhaenys who preemptively typed their names. He then turned back to the two men; Tormund had his mouth open as if to protest. Mance looked at him in concern and Jon knew why.

‘I don’t know who the two of you are but I am sure as shit you know who the fuck I am and because of your little joke on my brother’s expense, I am going to ensure the two of you wished you weren’t born’ he stated to the room’s silence.

Orell wanted to rebuttal in a cocky way but he saw the concern on Mance’s face. Mance could disrespect his brother and father all he wanted but disrespecting him was a different beast because of who he was.

‘There is no need for that Mr. Dayne, Orell is a hot headed fool and Tormund is a fool who gets bored quickly, none of them meant what they said’ Mance uttered.

Jon smirked as he leaned forward.

‘Prove it by signing that agreement’ he said as he gestured to the contract before him.

Mance smiled.

‘Mr. Dayne I apologize for my associate’s comment and his apology will be epic and I will ensure he grovels but I am not signing this agreement’ Mance stated.

Jon stood up from where he sat in the corner.

‘Yes you will’ he stated as he walked to the other end of the room where they sat. ‘Because if you don’t you will be going up against me.’

Mance laughed dryly as he leaned back in his chair.

‘Your reputation does precede you but unless you’re going to throw money at some goons to kill me, you can go back and sit down’ Mance replied.

The smile was back on Orell’s face, Karsi looked fed up obviously not wanting to be caught in the middle of this and Val’s eyes just shined as she stared at him. Jon turned to Ned and Robb who were simmering furiously. Mance looked up at him with intrigue wondering what he was going to do.

‘I wouldn’t need to do that Mance because despite what you believe you are not as important as you think you are’ Jon pulled out his phone and gave it to Karsi.

‘This is a message to Adam saying he should prepare to take flight to the Dreadfort’ Karsi read the message he had just sent before he stood up.

‘Adam is the chief pilot of my private jet and depending on what you do either we fly to Winterfell as partners or we chart a course to the Dreadfort and during that flight we are going to redact certain names from that agreement, positions that the Free-folk would have filled yada yada. But the most important change would be under vice president instead of your name it will be Roose Bolton’ he replied.

Mance eyed him in shock. Jon smiled and turned briefly to see Ned and Robb, he was glad they had their poker faces on.

‘You would team up with Roose Bolton?’ Mance asked.

‘We would and you may scoff at our terms but Roose is so thirsty for power, I am almost certain that he would jump at the offer’ he replied.

‘That’s because you would be giving him an easier pathway to the presidency’ Mance almost shouted but contained himself when he realized how much Jon had goaded him.

Jon shrugged.

‘Yeah well that would be sufficient motivation but the other would be that we’d now have a common enemy thanks to your ugly ass associate here. Now you can sign this agreement, have Orell and Tormund apologize to my brother on their knees or you can walk out of here and have me as your enemy who backs both Bolton and Stark’ he said as he took out his gold encrusted pen and offered it to him. ‘What’s it going to be Mancy?’

Mance stared around the room for help which he would not get. Ned and Robb looked at him eagerly. Rhaenys and Sansa stared at him like he was a pot of gold. Karsi looked like she wanted to take Mance’s hand and force him to sign. Val looked like she was hiding back a smirk. Orell scowled in resignation and Tormund looked like he wanted to pick his nose. Mance then chuckled after assessing the room.

‘I have heard stories about you White Wolf. Seems as if the rumors are true, you aren’t to be fucked with’ Mance replied before taking the pen and signing the agreement. He took the agreement and looked at Karsi.

‘Give Grenn and the girls my love’ he said nonchalantly

Jon took the pen back and walked back to his seat and saw the shocked faces on everyone in the room and he bit back a small smile.

They arrived back at Winterfell and everyone was all smiles, so much so that he was invited for lunch at the house he grew up in.

Though Jon’s intentions of being there weren’t for family gathering. He ate his food and made mundane conversation with Rickon and Bran who spoke to him animatedly.

When he was done eating he briefly went to his old room and the place was the size of a shoebox to what he was now accustomed to.

A knock on the door brought him out of his attention and he saw Robb walking in.

‘Are you about to leave?’ Robb asked.

Jon nodded.

‘Yeah just waiting for Rhaenys to print out an affidavit, father needs to sign. Though he won’t like it’ he said. ‘But it’s my second condition.’

Robb looked at him curiously.

‘Uncle Benjen had a daughter’ he replied.

His brother smiled knowingly.

‘I know, Lyanna’ Robb stated.

‘You knew?’ he said surprised and somewhat a little hurt.

Robb nodded.

‘When my wife died, I was in a black hole. Father was sympathetic but you know how he is. Benjen invited me over and I found out, though they tried to hide her from me. Dacey had gone to stay with her friend but they hadn’t hid away everything properly, I saw the baby proof locks and knew what they were cause of my own s… anyways I didn’t tell anyone cause I know father and he would want the baby raised in Winterfell’ Robb replied.

Jon nodded.

‘The affidavit is to ensure that they won’t try and contest Dacey’ he said.

‘Leave it with me, I will get them to sign it and you will have it before you touchdown’ Robb replied.

He nodded mutely once again, he grabbed some things he would give Dany and made his way too exit but stopped at the door and looked at his brother.

‘I am sorry about what happened to Talissa’ he said.

A look crossed his brother’s face that Jon couldn’t identify but Robb nodded.

‘I am to’ Robb stated as he sighed.

‘I enjoyed working with you Dayne and seeing Val today put things into perspective. I never apologized for what I did to you because It would mean me accepting a terrible thing I did and because of that I lost my best friend, I was jealous and I had a crush on Val and instead of manning up and letting it go, I did something I regretted. Losing Talissa and my son… I want us to be good Jon, I miss my friend. I am sorry about what happened and I hope you can forgive me’ Robb stated with all the sincerity he could muster.

Jon studied his brother by the door and for a second he almost pulled out his hand for Robb to shake so that he could let the past be the past but his instinct told him otherwise.

‘Do you remember Domeric?’ Jon asked Robb.

Robb was confused by the question but he nodded.

‘Roose Bolton’s son. He was with us in the ninth grade’ Robb replied.

Jon nodded with a smile.

‘Yeah, he was a nice guy and everyone loved him. A true mayor’s son. Teachers adored him, girls gushed at him and all the gents respected him. Drove you insane because you wanted to be the only it child. I never understood it because you and Dom could co-exist and you couldn’t have it. But I watched you befriend him, you would go to the lodge he stayed at every day and play Call Of Duty. You even shut Theon out, the same way you did me when Theon had arrived. Domeric was perfect except for the fact that he would smoke a blunt once in a while. And that once in a while came unfortunately when he was caught and expelled. No one knows how he was caught, someone snitched’ he looked at Robb pointedly

Robb grimaced slightly.

‘I wasn’t sure it was you up until you came home and Theon was bragging about how Domeric would leave his bag of weed and his personalized lighter in his locker and you smiled. Smiled at a guy who was your best friend throughout first and second term. You snitched on your friend.

Robb let out a huff of breath.

‘What do you want me to say Jon?’ Robb asked. ‘I was a jealous child.’

Jon shook his head.

‘Yeah but you were the same with me and that jealousy it never made sense because people loved you even though I was better at what mattered. You were always smart in class but you weren’t smart to the level of Sansa or Bran. Or even me for that matter. I was the perfect student and yet you were named as the class rep, I was the most effective when it came to sports and yet you were always the captain. I was nationally ranked by the department of education and yet you were named Head-boy and I was just a Prefect. I had gotten a scholarship in our senior year to Oldtown and yet you were always father’s golden boy’ he said with a wave of his arms.

‘You had all the love and I never resented you for it. But then when I asked out Val and you changed. You did to me what you did to Domeric, befriended me before finding a way to hurt me and when I confronted you and punched you in the face, you ran to your mother and lied knowing she would bend father to his side. And that smile you had with Domeric, you had with me as I packed my things and left.’

Robb shut his eyes.

‘Jon…’ he raised his hands to stop you.

‘I hold you no ill will but I am constantly thinking of that smile, that two faced smile and I always wonder if that part of you is real and it exists. I can’t be friends with someone like that’ he said as he made his exit.

He didn’t make it far when he spotted Arya in the driveway. She was smiling at him holding a bundle of white fur. The thing seemed to be moving.

‘Jon’ she said.

‘Arya’ he replied.

She gave him a beaming smile.

‘Thank you for helping him’ she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

She then proceeded to hand him the small animal in her hands.

Jon cringed knowing it was going to ruin his suit.

‘What is this?’ Jon asked as he looked at the puppy.

‘I adopted pups from the shelter, they’re direwolves and I plan to give each one to our brothers and sisters. This one is for you’ she said with a grin.

He wanted to say no, he wasn’t a pet guy but he made the mistake of looking into the white puppy’s eyes.

Jon released a groan.

‘I assume you’re going to bring yours when you come?’ he asked.

Arya nodded.

He handed Arya the pup. ‘Go put him in the car.’

Arya grinned in delight before strolling away.

Jon turned to the corner and saw Catelyn frowning down at him on the stairs. Once upon a time he would have ducked his head and disappeared but here he stood a made man and he plastered a smile on his face as he walked towards her. He knew he shouldn’t do it but he couldn’t help it. For her to even have the audacity to scowl at him when he all but saved them from her stupidity

‘Catelyn’ he said as he approached her.

She frowned but nodded in greeting, not used to him approaching her at all.

‘I was about to leave and I thought I would say goodbye’ he stated.

Her face remained unpleased.

‘You have said as much’ she replied.

He snickered and nodded as he turned away but he looked back one more time.

‘It must be a stick in your crawl’ he said.

‘What is?’ she asked.

‘To see me and everything I accomplished and then look at your own sons and know that they’ll never even scratch the surface of what I’ve done not unless they ask me for help, like Robb did’ he replied with smugness.

Her face went red with an unbridled rage.

‘Robb will be the youngest mayor in Winterfell history’ she argued.

‘That is true and if someone asked me if I would give up my 120 billion to be the youngest civil servant and earn a salary my secretary would laugh at. Well no sane person would ask me that because that is a stupid ass question’ he said as he laughed.

Before she could say anything else he waved her off.

‘You have good day Catelyn in this tiny ass house of yours’ he said as he walked away.

He arrived back in his office in the late afternoon and found Missandei sitting in the conference room with Varys as they chatted amicably. He had given his puppy to Sam for him to entertain him.

‘Mr. Blackfyre’ he said.

Varys stood up and shook his hand.

‘Mr. Dayne, I see you finally made it on time’ Varys said in that sing song voice of his.

Jon sat down next to Missandei.

‘I didn’t want to dally too long’ he said.

Varys waved his hand in a friendly fashion.

‘Nonsense, your acting COO is quite lovely’ Varys stated in a charming manner. ‘Though I do have to come forward on the record that Tyrion had nothing to do with my knowing of your takeover of the Crownland Warriors, he was quite irate when he came to see me yesterday telling me you suspended him because of possible collusion.’

Jon smiled.

‘Is that right?’ he asked Varys.

The man nodded.

‘Indeed and since Tyrion is an old friend of mine and I assure you he had nothing to do with me finding out about Satin. I will lower my offer from three to two billion’ Varys stated.

He smirked.

‘Why don’t I give you ten billion instead?’ he questioned. Varys gave him a confused look. ‘Or I could offer you my whole firm right now in exchange because the moment I give you a cent above the normal asking price, I will immediately file a report against your firm’ he said and he passed the report that he his lawyer draw up.

Varys smiled as he read the terms.

‘Is that right?’ Varys questioned.

He nodded in a guilty “oh shucks” type of manner and couldn’t hide the glee from his voice

‘You were right when you said Tyrion didn’t tell you about Satin. Satin has always been particular in how he does his work he conducts his work, people never find out what he is doing unless he wants them to find out’ he said as he snapped his fingers and realization dawned on Varys face. ‘Unless if by happenstance, we found a company in which you had close ties to the owner and we predicted that you were going to leverage us for a higher amount.’

Varys smiled more because he was impressed.

‘Well even if you did bait me into doing this. You have no proof that I had my little birds follow your fixer. All I have done is purchase shares of a basketball team’ Varys replied.

Jon looked at Missandei who had caught on to his plan all along.

‘That’s true but if we pay more than the market value then we will unveil a pattern and that will give any judge a solid bases to request you to hand over your books’ Missandei stated knowingly.

Jon stroked his beard in a patronizing fashion.

‘And if there is one thing I know about the Spider, he does not want his books to be open to the public, now they will be in the hands of the justice department and District Attorney Alliser Thorne will have a field day with you’ he said with a smile.

Varys thinned his lips.

‘Or?’ Varys asked.

Jon sighed in a dramatic fashion and Missandei did as well as she smiled.

‘You hand over the shares and give me what you wanted me to pay you’ he stated.

Varys shook his head.

‘Absolutely not. I am not a fool like Salladhor Saan and I will not pay you a penny when you are meant to be paying me’ Varys stated as he pointed his finger on the report. ‘Take me to court if you will, I guarantee by then I would have figured out a way to get out of it.’

He had a point.

‘You’re right Mr. Blackfyre but given this new found predicament of ours and all the potential headaches I think it’s best you just sign over your rights for free instead’ she said and Varys lifted his head to argue but Missandei held out her hand. ‘Now before you rebuttal you need to remember that you bought those shares from your friend in order to sell them to us at a mark-up of over hundred percent, which even if you are trying to make a profit, that is in bad faith. And if you do that and we go to court then we are enemies for life and something tells me you don’t like operating that way. So how about you sign them over for free and start a good relationship with us. It’s your choice.’

Varys leaned back in his chair and smiled ruefully.

‘It appears that I have spent two hundred million in order to make friends then’ Varys stated and stood to shake both their hands.

‘I thank you for helping me get a percentage of my company for free. You’ll get the paperwork before you leave’ he said as he took out another paper from his folder.

‘I also need you to sign this’ he said as he handed over a document.

‘You want me to admit that I met with Tyrion to discuss this deal?’ Varys asked.

Jon nodded.

Varys sighed and signed the agreement.

‘This would prove collusion’ Varys stated.

He nodded again.

‘I know’ he said with a smile. ‘You tried to cause us a headache but he has been causing me quite a few.’

Varys left as soon as they were done and Jon smiled.

Missandei regarded him momentarily before her eyes glinted in recognition.

‘So you knew how this whole thing was going to play out. You made Satin be sloppy on purpose and you knew Varys would take the bait’ Missandei said whilst giving him a bright smile.

Jon shrugged.

‘Satin found out that the owner of the team was friends with Varys long before I bought it, so I used that against him’ he replied. ‘I’m surprised it took you this long, perhaps I shouldn’t have promoted you.’

Missandei looked down at the papers in amusement.

‘Very impressive but it means that Tyrion isn’t guilty of collusion’ she said whilst trying to hide her disappointment.

‘He wasn’t but he is now’ he said.

‘Because he went to see Varys to discuss a confidential deal without your permission and you have Varys admitting it by signature’ she said whilst nodding.

‘And that means he’s fired’ he said knowing Dany would not be happy about this but he hid his smile. ‘And it means you’re no longer acting COO just COO.’

Missandei’s eyes shined gratefully.

‘Thank you Jon’ she said.

He nodded in response.

Missandei smiled as Rhaenys came in to complete whatever tasks her boss had set out for her.

‘I should actually thank you, Rhaenys handled herself well during our trip, North’ he said and he watched them both exchange a look.

Missandei smiled.

‘That’s good to hear’ she said.

He nodded and looked at them pointedly before Rhaenys exited the room.

‘I have been racking my brain on a gift, I would have asked Allyria but she’s on her bullshit cleanse’ he said to chuckles.

‘But on the trip Rhaenys made me realize that academics are important to her and since this is her last semester, I decided to call KLU and tell them how amazing she has been this past month and that I wanted to make a donation since these were the type of students they were producing and the Dean practically jumped’ he said whilst searching for Missandei’s gaze.

‘But there was a problem because when the Dean asked who the student in question was and I said Rhaenys Martell, they said there is no one in the institution with that surname and that on the campus there were only two women named Rhaenys and both had Valyrian surnames. And funny enough one of them happens to share my wife’s maiden name’ he said pointedly.

Missandei released a sigh.

‘You know’ she said.

‘Of course I know who do you think I am, why didn’t you tell us that Rhaegar’s daughter is working for us’ he said whilst trying to hide his anger.

‘Because she didn’t want you to know, when I did the background check and found out about her, I confronted her and she was petrified of either of you finding out. I almost let her go on the spot but she convinced me not to. She’s a lot like Dany than meets the eye’ Missandei replied. ‘And I hoped that this trip would make you curious to find out about her cause I didn’t want to keep anymore secrets.’

Jon shook his head.

‘Why would she want to keep this a secret?’ he asked.

‘You need to ask her that’ Missandei stated.

‘No I don’t need to ask her anything’ Dany was the one who had to and Missandei knew that as well.

He grimaced thinking of that conversation and nursed his temples.

‘Dany needs this Jon and you know that. I would have told her but you know her better than anyone’ Missandei stated.

He sighed.

‘When we had dated for over six months, Dany had opened up about her family, all the shit they put her through. She spoke of how her father would go into fits and berate her, of how he did worse to Viserys and how she tried to comfort Viserys and he would strike her. Spoke of how her mother left her to those monsters. Spoke of everyone but the one person she didn’t speak about was Rhaegar.’

And knowing Dany that meant she held no affection for him at all.

‘I know but Rhaenys practically worships Dany.’

The girls were already asleep when he got home and Jon told the caterer to prepare him a light meal before he went to bed and asked them to bring some food for the little pup as well.

He found Dany in her private office with her glasses on typing away at something.

‘Hey’ he said as he knocked.

She gave him a smile as he walked over to give her a quick kiss.

‘How was your trip North?’ she questioned.

He smiled.

‘Cold’ he said and the both of them laughed.

Jon took a seat opposite her. She heard her squeal and he turned to see her picking up the little white puppy.

‘Hello you beautiful little thing, I didn’t see you come in with my husband. You are quiet for a doggy aren’t you. As silent and as white as a ghost.’

Jon clicked his fingers.

‘That’s it’ he said as he smiled at Dany who nuzzled the pup in her neck and the pup yawned adorably.

‘What’s it?’ she asked.

‘Ghost that will be his name’ he said as she put down Ghost who walked on his little legs towards his feet.

‘Mmm what about Geralt?’ Dany suggested.

‘As in my uncle Gerold?’ Jon asked.

She shook her head and scrunched her eyes telling him to keep up.

‘As in the Witcher. White Wolf like you’ she said

‘Oh in that case, no!’ he said.

He leaned down to scratch Ghost who was comfortable by his feet.

‘I spoke to Satin, he told me that he tried to bait Varys little birds to spy on him to gain leverage for you. So Tyrion didn’t collude with Varys’ she said.

Jon released a sigh.

‘Yeah he did Dany’ he replied sadly. ‘He went to Varys yesterday and told him everything and tried to negotiate a deal behind our backs despite my warnings.’

Her frown was evident as she nursed her temples immediately understanding the implications.

‘For fuck sake Tyrion’ she muttered.

Her eyes then pinned him.

‘Jon…’ he didn’t let her finish.

‘No Dany, we have given him so many chances’ he said.

‘I know that but he didn’t do anything wrong, he tried to lower the deal with Varys and get him to tell us that he didn’t collude with him, which he didn’t, something you knew since this was a setup’ she said.

He shook his head.

‘It was a setup. But what if it wasn’t and Satin didn’t know Varys had tailed him and found out what I wanted to do with this team. That means Tyrion would have gone to a competitor of ours with a tail between his legs crying about how we’re all at odds before he negotiating an offer that he didn’t have any right to negotiate. I tested him to see what he would do and he failed’ he said. ‘Missandei deserves this promotion.’

Dany nodded albeit sadly.

‘If you take away his position, he will quit’ she said sadly.

Jon nodded.

‘I know he will and I know you care about him’ he replied.

She released a huff of breath.

‘He’s like family to me, I know you haven’t cared much for him lately but he was like the brother I never had’ she said.

Jon visibly grimaced at that and Dany noticed.

‘What is it?’ she questioned.

Jon sighed.

‘It’s about Rhaenys, your niece.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who have watched Blade Runner 2049. You know how Dave Bautista has those tiny glasses on, that's how Tormund looked in the meeting and it makes me so happy.
> 
> Next Update will be What If/Red Keep.
> 
> As always thanks for reading.


	8. Brother Where Art Thou?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dany has to think of family long forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Obi Wan voice* "Hello There"
> 
> Thank you Kayla for the moodboard and stubbornly picking the last ever choice I would ever consider for Rhaegar because said person looks like Emilia Clarke(he doesn't btw, she thinks that he does).
> 
> Anyways happy reading.

_"Motherfucker, fuck your mama! To the 10th power_

_Yeah, I got work like an employer._   
_10 guns, 10 goons, and 10 lawyers._   
_And I ain't tryin' to ignore ya..._   
  
_But money talks - you should let your money talk for ya" - Dwayne Michael Carter Jr_

**Dany**

_Her parents were arguing again although her father was much louder than her mother. As a girl of six she hated how it made her shrink like she were two._

_She had never seen father so mad, so much so that he hit mother. She was so frightened that she yelped when he did it. Father noticed her and a look of shame washed over him as he saw Rhaella clutch her cheek in shock._

_‘Rhaella I…’ father went to her but someone intervened._

_Her brother stood in front of mother like a guard looking like he wanted to pummel his father to death._

_‘It’s always the same shit with you father’ Rhaegar growled as he shook his head._

_Father flustered._

_‘I’m sorry this got the better of me’ Aerys tone was regretful._

_‘I came in when you both started, I don’t know who this Bonifer person is but I know mother and I know she is faithful and honest. You’re an animal’ Rhaegar stated before walking to her and picking her out of the room and taking her outside._

_Rhaegar didn’t release her until they arrived by the swings and he put her down and removed a strand of her hair that was in front of her face._

_Dany hung on to the swings staring down at her brother who was crouched. Her brother was nineteen but he looked much older than that._

_‘You okay Dany?’ he asked._

_She nodded with a sad smile._

_‘I’ve never seen father so angry’ she said in a small voice._

_Rhaegar looked away, his blue eyes much like hers churning with rage._

_‘I have, same old bullshit. He wants to be this big shot but he can never live up to it and lashes out at the rest of us’ he whispered with a clenched jaw._

_Dany didn’t understand what he was saying._

_‘I am done with him, I can’t live like this’ he said._

_Dany was confused._

_‘Rhaegar?’ she questioned in a childlike voice._

_Her brother’s frown disappeared into a small smile and he kissed her forehead._

_‘I love you little sister, I want you to know that. And I’m sorry’ he said before sitting in the swing next to hers._

_Dany just smiled thinking he wanted to compete to see who would swing higher. Little did she know that this would be the last time she would ever see her brother again._

‘That was the last time I ever saw my brother, he never returned after that. Not for my birthday, or when Viserys broke his hand or when his mother was about to go to prison. Nothing, it’s like we didn’t matter to him’ she said as she sat in her home office.

Her husband sat quietly on the other end of her office in their mansion, a little white bundle biting at his loafer. Ghost being acquainted with his husband’s shoe

‘I mean I understand given how young Rhaenys is. Elia was probably pregnant at the time. My father was a cruel and weak man and he didn’t want him around her, I get that. But I don’t understand why he left me there’ she said with tears in her eyes.

She shook her head at the aching memories how she wished her brother would come back. Sometimes she wondered if Rhaegar had even been real.

‘Especially after mom was taken away. He could have come back, he could’ve tried to help. He didn’t’ she said.

She looked out the window.

‘And now his daughter Rhaenys shows up and…’ her thoughts drifted to unsavory thoughts. A niece who had snuck her way into her life to claim what she had earned. Her brother who had all but abandoned her, now wanting a slice of the good life. Perhaps to be a brother to her now that she had something of value worth giving him, wealth.

She would not begrudge her brother for leaving her for his family but she would be damned if he tried to worm his way into her life now. She dialed for the driver to be ready in one minute.

She stood up and put on her coat and saw her husband look at her with alarm.

‘Where you going?’ he asked in his deep voice.

‘To Allyria’s’ she stated

She moved past him and walked down the stairs.

‘Dany that’s a mistake’ Jon stated as he moved after her.

He tried to grab hold of her to look at him but she scurried away, not wanting to be reasonable at this moment.

‘It’s not, Rhaenys has been living with her ever since they were in their second year of college right’ she stated matter of factly as she made her way down the stairs rushing away from his big arms. Arms that understood her more than anyone ever could, arms that would make her see reason.

‘Yes but you are in no shape to be discussing anything with her’ he said as he finally got to her and held her by the wrists.

His brown eyes gazed at her softly. Melting the burning desire of her objective.

‘I don’t…’ she didn’t want to finish.

‘You want to fire her and tell her that Rhaegar should stay away from her?’ he questioned.

Damn him.

He knew her too well.

‘I know that’s how you feel and I won’t say I understand or that my situation has anything to do with yours but I do know the feeling of being left to the cruelty of someone and thinking someone abandoned you to it. It’s awful, my father did that often when he would ignore how Catelyn was towards me. My hatred of him made me less close with my siblings even if it wasn’t my intention, I don’t even know Bran or Rickon at all and as much as I love Arya I distanced myself from her as well because she was my father’s daughter. Don’t punish your brother’s daughter for the same thing’ he said.

Dany looked down with tears in her eyes. Jon wiped them away slowly.

‘He left me alone, he left me with them’ she said quietly.

‘He did but you aren’t alone anymore. You have me, you have two beautiful girls who would break down into tears if they saw you like this. We are here and we love you’ he said as he held her cheeks.

She held her arms tight around him.

‘I love you’ she said as she tucked underneath his neck.

‘I love you too’ he said.

She let go of his embrace.

‘I don’t know what to do about Rhaenys’ she said.

Jon nodded as he cupped her cheek.

‘You will only know if you talk to her but I suggest you sleep on it. You’d be amazed at how logical you can be after you sleep or masturbate. Choice is yours’ he said.

She chuckled loudly as she nodded tearfully.

‘How’s about you take me to bed then so I can clear my mind?’ she questioned.

Jon took her hand in his and led her upstairs.

After making love she instantaneously fell asleep to a nightmare of her father taking her girls away and woke up in a rather panicked state. She only calmed when she walked to the girl’s room and saw them sound asleep.

She only dozed off to sleep after an hour with Jon’s snoring lulling her into restfulness.

When she woke up she felt her mind clear somewhat knowing she needed a rational conversation with Rhaenys to find out who she is exactly. Something that her husband was pleased to hear.

‘When will you speak to her?’ he asked as he passed her a cup of coffee.

‘Before the day ends’ she said though she felt a quiver of dread. Dread that vanished given the beaming smile her husband gave her.

Avoiding Rhaenys was easier said than done with her seeing the girl standing outside of Missandei’s office with a stack of documents speaking to a co-owner of theirs named Jeyne, Dany immediately made a beeline for her office only to see a tiny form sitting at the opposite of her desk with a scowl.

She released a sigh as she took her seat.

‘Morning Tyrion’ she said evenly.

Her former COO didn’t reply and instead slammed a document onto her desk. Dany sniffed ruefully at the document.

‘I have this policy that I don’t read documents unless someone schedules an appointment with me. Something you should do considering you are not employed here anymore’ she said as she placed her Versace bag to the side.

‘You think this funny?’ Tyrion questioned with a slant gaze.

She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance.

‘Do you see me laughing?’ she questioned with a raised brow.

Tyrion remained incredulous.

‘On Monday you said you believed me that I didn’t leak anything to Varys’ Tyrion pointed his finger at her accusingly.

‘I did’ she replied.

He released a huff as he released his arms in bereavement.

‘And now I’m fired when I did nothing wrong’ he argued.

That made her clench her jaw.

‘Nothing wrong?’ Dany questioned with her jaw clenched. ‘Last year you made us purchase stock that cost us millions. You sent our Unsullied department to go to Lannisport and try to manipulate stock against your father and if I hadn’t gotten wind of your plan then we would all be in jail for insider fucking trading and stock fraud. Should I even mention the Dorne mishap? A month ago my ex-boyfriend had enough leverage to blindside me and cost me millions because you forgot to backdate shares that you bought in order to lure your father into a trap, a recurring theme. The list goes on and on. Don’t tell me you did nothing wrong, you’ve done plenty wrong.’

Tyrion slouched down and Dany knew that the excuses were coming.

‘You should’ve been fired ten fuck ups ago but you got chance after chance and this week when you were suspended, you pleaded with me that you didn’t collude with Varys. I believed you and told you to do nothing and sit tight, let it blow over. Jon told the same thing to Missandei and she listened. And then you went to Varys to collude and get you out of it, doing the exact thing you were accused of’ she spat.

Tyrion’s eyes widened.

‘How do you know that?’ he questioned.

‘Because Jon set it up, he wanted to show me that you’re costing me and I can’t have that as our COO or you by my side’ she stated.

Tyrion’s eyes were pained and she hated that she had to do this.

‘Dany please don’t do this’ there was a plea in his voice.

She shook her head.

‘It’s done Tyrion; you have a severance of over eight billion up front. Take it and retire or build your own thing. I thank you for your service’ she waved him off.

Tyrion glared at her with a sad look before his face shifted into one of rage.

‘I don’t want your fucking charity’ he snarled. ‘This company would be nothing without me. I made this firm a behemoth while you were off fucking your husband in a different resort. We are at the top of the mountain and your husband doesn’t want us to reach for the heavens. I always knew he’d be the wet blanket but I thought you had more drive, I was wrong, then again you I am not surprised you’d rather be a housewife than a queen’

She thinned her lips.

‘Because of that remark your severance just went down to two billion’ she stated.

Tyrion gave her a nasty smile whilst looking up at her.

‘You can make it twenty dollars for all I care. I’m getting all my worth’ he said angrily.

Dany wasn’t deterred as she smiled back.

‘Twenty dollars? Can we shake on it?’ she teased.

‘Because when I walk out that door I am coming for the business I brought in and then some’ he said before turning around.

‘You would really do that to me?’ she questioned somewhat hurt.

Tyrion flinched before hardening his face.

‘You did it to me’ he stated.

She nodded.

‘Well then Tyrion, I want you to know that if you walk out that door then my offer is gone and if you think you can take me on then go right ahead. You’ll see how far it gets you’ she stated.

Tyrion said nothing and wobbled out the room.

Her day had now been hijacked with her going through a billable report that needed her signature.

A knock came on the door and she saw Missandei enter with a frown on her face.

She gave her a smile and turned down the music that was playing in the background.

‘Hey sorry I was just playing “Honey” by Mariah Carey and I know it’s insensitive to your people because…’ she joked.

‘Yes I know because it’s from her album Butterfly and I am Naathi and a butterfly fever killed my people ha-ha’ Missandei said with a fake laugh and a scowl.

Dany blinked.

‘Ok then clearly you’re in a bad mood’ she replied.

Missy let out a sigh before her features softened.

‘I’m sorry, I am tense because I screwed up’ Missandei replied.

She typed nonchalantly whilst she asked ‘How so?’

‘Tyrion is trying to go after our business’ Missandei stated.

She shrugged.

‘There’s no need to worry about that, even if he somehow could try to poach our business. There’s this little subject we did called Corporate Law and in that law there is something called “Restraint of trade.” That act prohibits a certain director conducting any business with any relation to us. You should know that it’s the only subject you beat me in’ she teased.

‘And what if Tyrion found a piece of our business that would have no relation to us?’ Missandei questioned with her eyes frowning.

Dany panicked for a moment.

‘What are you talking about?’ she asked as she looked up from her laptop.

Missy threaded her fingers nervously.

‘I was in a quarterly meeting with Dr Jeyne Westerling. She raised her fee in order for us to keep licensing her herbal products under our name. Naturally I told her to shove her demands up her ass because no sane person is paying that amount. It was going fine up until I let it slip that Tyrion is leaving us’ Missandei explained.

That was a very bad thing. Usually they could silence that willowy looking bitch because they had the upper hand but with Tyrion leaving, he could easily offer her an insane amount and that could sow a crack for any sub company they owned that wanted to leave.

‘Missandei how could you let that happen?’ she questioned.

There was a faraway look in her friend’s eyes.

‘I will fix it, I will need a couple of senior officers and we can find something by tomorrow’ Missy replied.

Dany only nodded as the COO left.

She found herself heading home before lunch leaving it to Missandei to sort out the mess she had made. And truth be told she didn’t think it wise to be in Missy’s presence after she kept Rhaenys secret from her now with this new hiccup she thought it best to steer clear lest she say something she regret.

It was unfair to blame her friend for Rhaenys but Missandei was always honest and straight with her. With Tyrion possibly having a gateway to damage them, it was probably best not to pour fuel on the fire and working in her office at home might be best.

But first she sought out the girls and despite living in an enormous mansion she could hear the loud blaring music from the girl’s gaming room.

The familiar voice of Taylor Swift rang outside the halls as she opened the door. And whilst it was accompanied by Alysanne and Elizabeth with the two four year olds belting their lungs out, she was surprised to hear a Northern burr sing along atrociously.

“CAUSE WE’RE YOUNG AND WE’RE RECKLESSS WE’LL TAKE THIS WAY TOO FARRR, IT WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS OR WITH A NASTY SCAR!!” they all belted out.

All three of them were wearing tiaras with the girls rocking princess attire. Seeing Jon wearing a tiara and being doused with glitter was a joyous sight that she had to capture on her phone for blackmail purposes. Considering how much of a hip hop purist he was, watching him hold a wand as if it was a microphone and seeing him sing along with Lizzie was wonderful.

Ally did the same but held Ghost as she lovingly sang into his ear. The little puppy looked like he did not want to be here and kept shifting his head around not sure what to make of his new family.

The song came to an end but Billie Eilish came on soon after and she watched her husband grimace knowing there was no way he was getting out of this.

Her heart was gushing at the most important people in her life, she never imagined to be blessed like this. With two perfect angels and a husband who was an amazing father.

Dany’s father was never like that and she knew parent’s differ but her father genuinely never wanted to spend time with her unless he wanted to rip her a new one. Viserys was often cold or cruel so he remained distant, Rhaegar was the only one who had played with her before he disappeared.

‘Hey’ a voice said from behind her and she saw Allyria. Her sister in law flashed her a dazzling smile. The girl was already gorgeous due to her mother and the Gods were completely unfair in blessing her with Davos charm.

‘I didn’t know you were here’ she stated as she was greeted with a kiss on the cheek.

Ally chuckled.

‘Who do you think gave the girls the idea of them singing with Jon?’ Allyria stated with a conspiratorial smile.

Dany laughed as she looked at Jon who was carrying little Ally as they sang “God is a woman.”

‘Your playlist?’ she guessed.

Older Ally nodded.

‘I had to step out. Rhae needed my help she…’ Allyria paused realizing the name she had uttered.

Dany couldn’t help her frown though she tried to fight it.

‘You know?’ she questioned.

‘I found out yesterday, Jon told me’ Ally replied.

She had figured Allyria had no idea but she was surprised at how unbothered her sister seemed by it.

‘And you’re not mad?’ she questioned.

Ally shook her head.

‘Rhaenys never specifically lied to me; she just never told me her last name. I’ve met her family, her mother is nice, her brother Aegon is sweet and has a crush on me and her hot dad who looks like… you’ Ally said the last part hesitantly.

Allyria then grabbed her hands and gave her that doe eyed look that Jon would often give her when they wanted her attention.

‘Look I know things are complicated with your family and I would never comment on what you need to do or claim I fully understand. Unlike you I have been blessed with a loving family but what I do know is Rhaenys. She’s smart, loyal, headstrong and determined and she truly admires you, I never understood why until last night but things made a lot more sense’ Ally stated. ‘Give her a chance.’

She entered the seminar room and found her niece slouched on the table with headphones on. She hadn’t been looking for it but the similarities she had dismissed as one of those faces were as evident as ever before.

Though Dany was curious who she favored more, her brother or her brother’s wife. She imagined she got her olive skin from her mother.

She knocked on the table to grab the girl’s attention. Rhaenys looked up with a frown being interrupted but her eyes widened when she saw it was her.

‘Oh Daen… Mrs. Targaryen, not sure how I should address you’ Rhaenys stated nervously as she twirled a loose curl.

She smiled to ease the girl’s tensions before looking at the audio clip opened on her laptop.

‘Is that Missy’s meeting with Jeyne Westerling?’ she questioned.

Rhae nodded guiltily much to her suspicion.

‘Missandei asked me to transcribe’ Rhaenys replied.

‘And how is that going?’ she asked her as she took the opposite seat.

‘Awful, Jeyne talks a lot’ Rhaenys described. ‘I am sorry about what happened today, Jeyne had come to me before her meeting with Missandei and I didn’t know they hadn’t spoken yet and she ambushed me…’

Her niece was flustered and embarrassed. Dany held her hand up for the girl to hush

‘I actually didn’t know that, Missandei told me it was her fault though it explains why she is punishing you with transcribing’ She responded.

Rhaenys looked at her in surprise.

‘Are you mad?’ Rhaenys asked with her eyes now downcast. ‘Ally told me that Jon knew and that you know as well.’

She regarded her niece.

‘I am suspicious and usually when suspicion is thrown in my path I remove it entirely. Luckily for you my husband is emotionally mature to an unbearably annoying level and he gave me clarity. Though I want to know why you kept it a secret that we are related?’ she asked.

Rhaenys straightened from her working slouch.

‘I don’t know… Well I guess you’ve always been my idol ever since I was in High School. Dad never spoke much about you, it was rare but when I was in 9th grade and you took over from Stannis and what you did in Essos. I suddenly shared a surname with this badass dragon queen who was killing it in the corporate world. You were on my mood-board whenever I needed to study and I even spent my vacation money buying your biography. The fact that you got Krazyns and his hedge fund by pretending to not speak Valyrian was just brilliant. Sorry if I am rambling it’s just you’re awesome’ her niece stated as she ran out of breath.

Dany found herself chuckling and she couldn’t find any lie in what she spoke.

Rhaenys laughed as well.

‘I had dreamed about working for you and then I met Ally and she knew you. We became fast friends’ Rhaenys then became hesitant. ‘I didn’t tell you who I was because my father doesn’t exactly know I am working for you. You’re kind of a sore subject when it comes to him’ Rhaenys added.

Even though she tried to not let hurt her, it still stung hearing those words.

In her bitterness she might let her go but then Allyria popped into her head. Her sister in law would do anything for her children. That is what good siblings would do.

‘What is it you want?’ she asked. ‘No hiding behind me being your idol. What is your endgame here?’ she questioned.

Rhaenys paused in consideration.

‘Partly to work for you and learn from you’ Rhaenys responded determinedly before her eyes went serious. ‘My dad’s music career never really took off and he became a part time high school music teacher instead but it was my mom who became the breadwinner as an assistant to my Uncle Oberyn who is a governor. I grew up comfortable enough and way better than most but I would always look at my cousins all of them, my uncle Doran or uncle Oberyn and my cousins having a president and a governor for fathers. All of my cousins always seemed way well off far from Aegon and I, they even pity us. Mostly because they think my mom married a bum. Because that’s what they think of my dad and it pisses me off you know. I don’t like how they see him as the black sheep and how instead of being Martells, we are the Targaryen charity cases. So I wanted to work for a Targaryen who is so great that she is better than everyone else.’

She listened aptly and found no hidden agenda in her tone. In fact she recognized something in her niece’s tone. Ambition.

It had driven her to great heights, a part of her wanting to be the best as a way to mock her old life. To spite her father who was also ambitious but never had the potential or the fortitude to match his dreams of being a big shot. His failure made him take out his frustrations on his family.

‘Alright, I will allow you to continue in your position under three conditions’ she says.

Rhaenys sagged in relief as her eyes lighted up.

‘Anything’ Rhaenys stated.

‘The first one is your loyalty, you don’t lie to me or Missandei or my husband. Working for us means you get a lot of benefits but we have a lot of enemies to and your slip up today should be a one-time thing’ she said.

Rhaenys nodded in understanding.

‘Secondly, you won’t work for me; I have built the company already. You will work for Missandei as she keeps everything in order. She will teach you everything you need to know’ Dany replied.

Rhaenys stared at her in confusion.

‘But she’s upset with me?’ Rhaenys stated.

Dany pulled out her tab and opened a page.

‘She won’t be after you show her this’ Rhaenys peered at the financial records. ‘I was looking at the company statements and I happened to find this. Jeyne cornered you today because she knew she could get information she already knew. I suspect my old COO put her up to it’

Rhaenys crinkled her nose.

‘Since you have read my biography you would know that I have an MBA in finance. Specializing in corporate law and investment infrastructure. These skills gave me an eye for detail much like a regular auditor or tax man would’ Dany replied.

She then pointed at the tab.

‘Now our arrangement with Jeyne is different from our other ventures because we are co-owners. Our agreement states that she would sell her bullshit health products and run her multimillion dollar company as CEO and we would be the primary owners. But Jeyne would run everything else as is her right and the caveat in the contract is that we have to pay her an investor fee to retain that ownership and she can leave at any quarter if the fee isn’t to her liking. Shit deal right?’ she said with a snort before she continued.

‘But I found a loophole, there is this law it’s actually a global one for big corporations that when the financial statements are prepared, that the investors in this case Jon and I, are the ones who appoint them. And due to Jeyne and her management style she didn’t do that so we didn’t have a say in that. Which means?’

Rhaenys eyes widened in realization.

‘It means that you have been paying an investor fee but are being denied your rights of ownership and you can take her to court’ Rhaenys replied and Dany was impressed at how quick she was.

‘Exactly and I suspect that this was a scheme concocted by Tyrion because Jeyne is not this clever. And while Jeyne may not be smart enough to do this, she is smart enough to know that I can bring prison charges on her ass.’

She gave Rhaenys the tab.

‘You’re going to go to Jeyne’s hotel and explain the situation and tell her about this conversation and Jeyne is going to come here tomorrow and apologize to both you and Missandei before submitting to our demands’ Dany stated.

‘You want me to go alone?’ Rhaenys questioned.

She nodded.

‘Yeah you can tell people it was your idea and I won’t tell a soul but that depends if you agree to my third condition’ she said.

‘And what’s that?’

‘Well I need an address.’

The flight to Dorne was always quick taking less than an hour in her private jet. Considering that her husband was part Dornish, having an airport built in both the Dornish capital and Starfall had been a priority.

She had expected to meet him at his home but Rhaenys had told her that there were days when he taught music at the high school at night to elder students.

Her brother hadn’t aged from when she last saw him despite being in his 40s one would assume he was in his 30s. Still as handsome as she remembered though his voice changed and was now way deeper than she remembered but still as angelic.

His hair was now short and trimmed back neatly with one loose curl on the edge of his head. Most of the class was captivated by her brother with most of the middle aged women staring at him dreamily.

Rhaegar played a few notes on his piano before dismissing everyone.

Dany remained seated as she watched him put on his tweed jacket and pack his laptop. He walked towards the door and only stopped by the lecture room stairs when he saw her.

His eyes were assessing her before they went wide as he froze.

‘Dany?’ he said with a gasp.

She nodded as she stood up.

The difference between them was staggering; she was clothed in Armani and Prada. He was clothed in whatever fabric he brought from his target store.

‘Rhaegar’ she said.

Her brother seemed to be debating whether to hug her or not but Dany held her hand.

‘I am not here for niceties’ she said plainly. ‘Your daughter is working for me, started a month ago. She’s bright kid with a bright future.’

Shock displayed on his face along with a hint of shame.

‘I didn’t know’ he said.

‘That’s not why I am here. Our mother is out of prison and she’s staying in my hotel. I barred her from seeing Viserys but I think she would like to see you. Since I gave your daughter a job that pays more than you earn here, I think you can do this favor for me’ Rhaegar’s face remained shocked. ‘When you are ready, you can call this number and someone will pick you up and take you to my private airport.’

Dany didn’t want to say anymore and she turned to leave.

‘Dany wait’ Rhaegar called for her his eyes anxious.

She turned around. Her brother was still shook, a lot going on his mind.

‘I…uhm…I don’t know what to say but how about we get some coffee to catch up’ Rhaegar suggested hesitantly.

She had done what needed to be done, she had kept Rhaenys because of Allyria and how she saw a small part of herself in the girl. She came to tell her brother in person about their mother and mayhaps a small part of her wanted reconciliation with part of her family.

But then she remembered never seeing him again after he left her on the swing.

‘Hard pass’ she said as she turned to the door.

As she opened it she turned back to Rhaegar who was watching her.

‘This is a nice school. Perhaps one of the orphanages I started in Essos may make a donation to it.’

The girls were tucked in one bed with Ghost sleeping on the edge of the bed. She gave them both kisses before leaving the room and making her way to the theatre room.

Outside of the room she could hear the sounds of a teen drama playing.

_‘I love you Archie-kins’ Veronica told Archie_

_‘I love you too Ronnie’ Archie replied._

Dany’s eyebrows furrowed as she laughed internally as she opened the door to their built in cinema. The channel immediately changed.

She saw boxing highlights of Anthony Joshua getting his ass beat by Ruiz.

Her husband sat in the middle of the theatre room looking engrossed by the fight. Dany rolled her eyes wondering who he was trying to fool. Jon saw her walk up the stairs to the leather seat. Jon paused the large screen.

‘Hey I heard you were in Dorne, I was just watching this fight’ he said in an attempt to be casual.

She raised her brow.

‘Uh huh of a fight from last year?’ she questioned.

Jon shrugged sheepishly.

‘Future investment’ he said with that timid smile of his that made her gush.

Dany took a seat next to him.

‘How was Dorne?’ he questioned.

She grit her teeth.

‘I don’t know what I sought when I went there. Perhaps I was hoping to see my brother miserable and let him think himself unlucky for leaving his sister on the swing of our old house but in the end I only told him to visit our mother’ she stated.

She put her feet in Jon’s lap.

‘You wanted to reconcile?’ he asked.

‘No’ she said quickly but deep down she wasn’t sure.

‘It’s okay if you do’ he said.

But she brushed away the topic

‘So did the girls enjoy you singing to Taylor Swift?’ she asked.

He chuckled.

‘They did, it was awful’ he said with a smile.

‘Well why don’t we do something fun perhaps we can play one of those movies we made years ago?’ she hinted seductively.

Jon’s eyes scrunched.

‘I don’t want to see how I look like during sex, it’s so off-putting’ he replied, his puffy lips grimacing.

Dany giggled knowing he would respond that way.

‘You always look fantastic and it will be awesome to see us in a 500 inch HD screen’ she replied.

‘No it won’t’ he argued.

‘Very well we don’t need a camera’ she said as she met his lips. Her husband tasted of strawberry and apple, a sure sign of Lizzie bombarding him during their tea party.

Jon urged her towards him as she straddled his lap.

She removed his Ralph Lauren shirt and felt up his muscles as he held her back firmly.

Their lovemaking was frantic as she quickly unbuckled his belt.

Her moans were quite loud even in the sound proofed cinema of their home. She moved from his seat and lay on the one next to his as he covered his arm around her and she felt Goosebumps as grinded on him. Dany could feel his love gushing between her legs and pitied the cleaners that would have to attend to whatever mess they made.

But thinking of what Jon had put inside her made her wonder. She had been petrified the first time, worried that she would be just as bad as her father or like her brother who abandoned her. But thinking of her daughters and of Rhaenys.

‘Jon what would you feel about having another child?’ she questioned.

Jon’s face was unreadable as his stubble scratched her forehead as she lay in his arm.

‘I wouldn’t be against it. Lizzie and Ally were an accident, albeit a happy one. But we wanted to build an empire’ he stated.

She nodded.

‘And we’ve built it’ she replied. ‘Now it’s time to leave people to bear the fruits of our labor.’

‘What brought this on?’ he questioned.

She shrugged.

‘A nauseating couple of months in which our past has been manifesting itself’ she said.

‘Let’s take it one step at a time then’ he replied.

She nodded as they lay distracted and her eyes turned to the remote.

Dany then lunged quickly for the remote and Jon tried to hold her back but it was too late as it shifted back to the familiar show.

_‘I don’t care about that Jughead, I only care about you’ Betty stated._

Dany bit back her smirk.

‘Oh Jon’ she said with a laugh.

She arrived in the office in the afternoon with tasks that she needed to see through.

The first was an email informing Marwyn, their lawyer, which he needed to handle the situation with her mother’s divorce. Her father had not signed the papers and that had worried Dany.

Whilst she typed the email, Missandei entered her office with a smile on her face.

‘Jeyne arrived in my office this morning. Apparently Rhaenys went to see her last night to clear up the misunderstanding we had yesterday. And not only has Jeyne apologized, she has named Ice & Fire sole owners of her company’ Missandei replied before raising her brow.

‘Hard to believe a twenty two year old managed to do that all by herself?’ Missandei stated.

Dany shrugged.

‘Not to be that girl but when I was twenty two I landed Stannis a fifty million dollar loan from the Iron Bank so…’ she replied evenly.

Missandei smirked.

‘Thank you Dany and I am sorry I didn’t tell you about Rhaenys…’ Dany cut her off.

‘You did that because you knew I would like to know the girl and I should be the one apologizing not for Rhaenys but your promotion. I was so focused on Tyrion that I never congratulated you but it goes without saying that you’re the best person for the job. You have been for quite some time’ she said.

Missandei’s eyes were watery but she gave her a firm nod.

Dany went to fetch a document she had meant to send to Missandei later.

‘You’ll make mistakes but you will have me there to help you. Like you helped me all these years. So don’t feel pressure and don’t punish my niece for mistakes that even a senior official would make’ she said pointedly as she handed Missandei a paper.

Missandei chuffed in guilt before reading the contents. Her brown eyes went wide.

‘Dany are you sure?’ Missandei asked.

‘I warned him what would happen and he did it anyway. If I leave this be then he will think he can walk all over me’ she replied. A small part of her loathed that she had to do it.

Missandei nodded.

‘Then it will be your first order for me as your COO?’ Missy asked.

She smiled liking the sound of that.

‘It is’ she replied.

Missandei then dropped a file in her desk.

‘Since I am no longer your assistant I thought it prudent for you to get a new one. For Jon as well since Sam is being promoted to another division. I thought it best we seek out Ivy League students who like Rhaenys are on attachment. Top achievers from the best of the best and young minds you can mould’ she said.

Dany eyed her curiously.

‘Seems like a job for HR’ she said.

Missandei nodded.

‘They found five perfect candidates who applied here and there is one I thought you might find interesting for you. Perfect grades, valedictorian at Ashemark University so it will piss off Tywin that we stole someone in his country and it’s a she’ Missandei stated.

Dany smiled feeling impressed already.

‘Well I will be glad to have an interview with her and meet her’ she replied as she took the file.

‘That’s the thing, you already have’ Missandei stated.

Dany opened the file and saw the familiar red hair of her sister in law.

Missandei had done what she was bid and Dany watched as her glass door opened in the evening.

‘Twice in two days, you keep showing up here and people will start thinking you still work here’ she stated.

Tyrion had defeat etched on his face.

‘My access card was cut off but I was still allowed up. Which means you knew I was coming’ Tyrion replied.

He had his diplomatic voice in place which made her smirk.

‘I did know you were coming. Jeyne has never been one to be silent’ she replied.

Tyrion sighed.

‘I am sorry for my words earlier. I was angry and hurt but I have calmed and I would like to accept my severance’ he replied solemnly.

He looked humbled.

Dany regarded him for a moment.

‘Very well you will get your severance’ she replied and Tyrion gave her a warm smile. ‘The revised one though.’

Her former COO immediately frowned.

‘Revised?’ he questioned.

‘Revised’ she stated. ‘Instead of eight billion that could help you build your own firm and maybe in a couple of years be on the same playing ground as us. You can take that amount and multiply it by zero.’

Tyrion’s face went ashen.

‘You’re giving me nothing?’ he asked breathily.

‘Well there’s this contract that you signed which you are still liable to even after being fired and it states that as an executive you have certain fiduciary duties i.e. not poaching my clients and you did. Granted you tried to do it with a loophole and had you succeeded then I would be bleeding money but you failed and remember when I said Jeyne has never been one to be silent’ she replied.

She smiled when she realized he understood her implications.

‘So you can go to a judge but he would rule in my favor ‘she stated.

Tyrion looked at her as if he were seeing a stranger.

‘Daenerys please don’t do this’ he begged.

‘I didn’t do it, you did because you were under the assumption that you’re better than me and that you could beat me. Do you know how long I figured out your Jeyne plot and how to reverse it, like your height it was an embarrassingly short amount of time’ she stated.

He now eyed her with anger.

‘Go on, wish me ill. Tell me you will get back at me. Say that one day my joy will be ashes in my mouth. Make an attempt, I dare you, you’ve been trying to beat your father for years and have failed at every turn’ she replied. Her face serious now as well.

‘You so much as make an attempt on my company, I will bury you’ she stated. ‘Now get the fuck out of my office.’

Tyrion nodded with a hateful smile

‘I will go but don’t kid yourself in thinking this is the last page of the story’ he said as he walked out.

She watched as waddled away to the door at the company he had spent than more than half a decade with nothing to show for it.

‘Oh Tyrion’ she called and grabbed her Marc Jacobs purse.

She took out the twenty dollar bill in regards to their meeting yesterday.

‘A deal is a deal right’ she said as she gave him the money. ‘I thank you for your years of service.’

Tyrion just glared at her.

‘This is twenty dollars right? I don’t actually remember what that type of money looks like.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.
> 
> My next update will be a one shot AU called Inglorious Bastards.


	9. Grave Of My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robb visits Kings Landing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robb POV

****

_"_

_I'm bleeding out, I'm bleeding out_   
_My eyes are full of blood, they're closing up_   
_My clothes are tight enough, they cut them off_   
_The skies aren't bright enough to see the gods_   
_One hand on the crown, I'm on the ground_   
_Tears are falling as she's looking down_   
_The sky looks way darker than usual_   
_And he's like dark's becoming beautiful_

_I told her, don't cry, be a soldier_   
_Now you're holding your composure_   
_I think I see the holy ghost_   
_I'm not ready yet to leave the throne_   
_No crying, I'm a soldier_   
_And I'm holding my composure_   
_I think I see the holy ghost_   
_I'm not ready yet to leave the throne_

_Night, night to my enemies_   
_Didn't think I would survive my injuries_   
_Didn't think the almighty would intervene_   
_I know they are praying for the death of me (death of me)_   
_If life was a melody_   
_Would the angels congregate and sing for me?_   
_Blue lights in the sky signify tragedy_   
_You're chosen by the heavens and you have to leave (have to leave)_

_Tell me did you think I died for a second?_   
_So did I for a second_   
_Oh Lord, I look up into the sky and count my blessings_   
_Are you taking me early?_   
_Are the gates really pearly_   
_Will I wake up in the morning?_

_Where was you when you seen it?_   
_Nearly died and I mean it_   
_I cannot think of another time in life that I have needed_   
_The support of my people_   
_Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil_

_Thought I told her, don't cry, be a soldier_   
_Now you're holding your composure_   
_I think I see the holy ghost_   
_I'm not ready yet to leave the throne_   
_No crying, I'm a soldier_   
_And I'm holding my composure_   
_I think I see the holy ghost_   
_I'm not ready yet to leave the throne_

_Night, night to my enemies_   
_Didn't think I would survive my injuries_   
_Didn't think the almighty would intervene_   
_I know they are praying for the death of me (death of me)_   
_If life was a melody_   
_Would the angels congregate and sing for me?_   
_Blue lights in the sky signify tragedy_   
_You're chosen by the heavens and you have to leave (have to leave)_

_Shoot me down, paranoia_   
_Bring a medic, bring a lawyer_   
_I can't even bear the thought of living on with all this trauma_   
_If the blood thickens up_   
_And goes to your heart, will you fall apart_   
_When the bright days start to feel dark?_

_If it's breaking my spirit_   
_And I pray will you hear it?_   
_Hallelujah, hallelujah_   
_If it's breaking my spirit_   
_And I pray will you hear it?_   
_Hallelujah, hallelujah"_

\- Don't Cry by Bugzy Malone ft. Dermot Kennedy

**Robb**

The Jeep Cherokee that was once green but honestly was now grey sidled into the driveway creaking like an old chair in need of oil. The big old thing had surpassed its miles ages ago but could still roam the distance when Robb needed to travel around the ever expansive and large country of the North.

But lately he had to take it to the shop more often than not to fix whatever new problem had occurred.

He knew that he should scrap it and sell it but he couldn’t. This had been the first car they had bought together.

It was fifteen years ago when he had gotten his first car. Father had gotten him a hatchback when he had turned sixteen though he later found out that was more mother’s doing.

He remembered how overjoyed Theon was at the time, saying the Subaru would get them a large host of girls and to an extent it had.

Jon hadn’t been happy though he had hidden it deep down. He was the first one between himself and Theon who had even gotten his license and often lamented that he needed a car so he can go to the library without constantly taking the bus that was a waste of both time and money.

Father had said no to him and a hypocrite he must have looked when Robb got his new car. Those were things Robb had often overlooked at the time. That he had been more spoilt than his brother.

Despite that he had gone to college in the Riverlands, studied political science and that was when he met Talissa. Robb had always been a certain way when it came to life and women.

He held charm and charisma. His marks were decent. Average at worst with a few subjects that he could get some As in. He wouldn’t say that things were always easy for him but life wasn’t as difficult given how popular he was. When it came to going to college and what to do with his life that was when the real challenges had appeared, Robb felt lost and directionless.

Talissa changed that. A doctor and humanitarian, she had a lot of drive, a lot of purpose and made Robb discover a better more mature version of himself.

He had never admitted openly but he always saw his brother Jon, saw his achievements and it always rubbed him the wrong way.

Sure everyone loved Robb; he was the Headboy at his private school, captain in most sports. But that praise came from his name and his father being a known delegate of the court. It also came from his strong sense of confidence. None of these things had mattered though when it came to his final year in high school, things had become clearer. He wasn’t the golden boy of the Starks.

Jon was the true standout of his family.

His grades had caught the interest of many colleges, international ones even. Extracurricular activities in which he was the leader meant naught when Jon was always the one who made the difference in the sports they played.

He was the top scorer for their football team, scoring goals left and right as their captain but it made no difference given that Jon was the goalkeeper who never conceded a single goal. To make matters worse, the extracurricular activities he didn’t do, Jon did. From chess to backgammon, which apparently was a real curricular. Though to his credit he did do public speaking and toastmasters. As that was a tradition in his family.

Point was that now they were leaving for Higher Institutes, Jon was now being recognized more and the scholarships came in by the dozen.

Robb got acceptances but Jon got offers from colleges pleading for him to join. The Ivy League’s would waitlist Robb and Jon would immediately be accepted with representatives coming and visiting him.

It hurt his pride, his ego and his everything.

Brought him so low that he started listening to the horrible words his mother would whisper whenever father wasn’t listening. It made him not protest against Theon when he did the same.

Then there was Val. A horrible situation, probably the worst thing he had ever done to someone.

Jon had been pining for the girl ever since he saw her in fifth grade. Blonde hair and that beautiful smile, it was easy to see why he was so smitten.

Robb would admit that he wanted to date her but when he saw his brother’s interest he kept at bay and Val seeing that Robb would not entertain her then decided to give Jon a shot.

And for the almost two years that they dated, everything was fine. Val had completely forgotten about the crush she had on him, with her being head over heels with Jon.

Until Oldtown.

Jon always blamed him for what he did with Val and rightfully so. It was a wicked thing he did a multiple times over and whilst jealousy is not a reasonable excuse for why he did it. It was why he did it.

Having a brother as gifted as Jon was a tough pill to swallow.

Likewise having a boyfriend who is as gifted as Jon is a tough pill to swallow as well.

And swallow is what she did to him later by the school bleachers when he comforted her after Oldtown had flat out rejected Val but had given Jon a scholarship. The girl had always dreamed of going to Oldtown and the dream was crushed.

It was awful, definitely awful.

But for those brief moments at the time it felt good, to do something to Jon that would sting him to his core. He had felt no remorse especially when Jon found out and punched him in the face. The situation had escalated when mother had seen his face dripping with blood.

Robb deep down had known what he had done was morally wrong and father would have seen it that way. So he lied and Theon in his foolishness decided to hide his stash in Jon’s room.

His brother had wailed and protested to father who couldn’t see past the bludgeoned eye socket that throbbed and told Jon to go to a reform school to set him straight or leave his house.

Jon had left.

Robb was bitter from the sucker punch so he didn’t care. And he could not stress enough that he was still a stupid immature boy.

And he had immediately sought out Val when his eye healed but Val had come to her senses and realized what they had done. They had hurt someone they love in the worst way possible and had driven him from his home.

Robb was still an immature moron and didn’t give a toss about that one bit.

It was only when Arya returned from Riverrun with Grandfather did he realize he royally fucked up. His little sister had been miserable that whole summer often sitting in Jon’s room and sleeping in there. He hid away his guilt up until her birthday during the semester holidays. He expected Jon to return. The two had always been as thick as thieves but Jon had not come and Arya had cried the whole day.

Uncle Benjen had told them that Jon sated he would never set foot in the North ever again. That was when Robb realized the implications of his actions.

Jon eventually reached out to Arya and it became an agreement for her to go visit him during the holidays. The situation was so bad with Arya that mother hadn’t even protested the decision in the slightest.

This brought a change in him.

Even more so when Talissa appeared in his class in semester two. She took his breath away from the moment he laid eyes on her.

They became fast friends with him not even hiding his past shames.

_‘So you slept with your brother’s girl. Lied about it and then planted your drugs in his room?’ she questioned._

_He nodded._

_‘Well the drugs was not my doing but the girlfriend part yes’ he said with a regretful sigh._

_She studied him pensively._

_‘Wow Stark, don’t take this the wrong way but you’re kind of a dick’ she said._

_Robb laughed. ‘I am, trying not to be.’_

_‘Well I will go out with on one condition, if you own up to your family about what you did and I want proof’ she replied._

_‘Consider it done’_

That had been a hard summer. Father had been irate and that was the one and only time mother had ever been disappointed in him. Even Sansa iced him out for that period. The only one who wasn’t mad at him surprisingly was Arya because she had never believed his lies in the first place and knew Jon had been telling the truth.

It had been a weight of his shoulder to do so but unfortunately Jon never cared for any apology given to him but the fact remains that it was Talissa who pushed him to do what was right and he never thanked her for that small request. She was always too good for him.

The years they had together had been great, from her choosing to stay with him in his apartment in the North to buying the Jeep and the nursery they were preparing for Eddard. They even planned to move to Kings Landing so that she could start her practice as an MD. But life is never kind and in the blink of an eye tragedy would strike.

He often thought of that night and it had taken some time before he could remember it before breaking down into tears.

A knock on the window pulled him out his misery.

He had arrived to pick up his sisters, their flight to Kings Landing was in three hours but he was surprised to see Ygritte standing in his family driveway.

‘You know Theon doesn’t live here anymore right’ he stated as he got out of the car and gave her an awkward hug.

Ygritte gave him a subdued smile.

She had always been rough in a pretty way but now seeing her grown up, she looked more assured. The wildness that made her less appealing was now a thing of the past. She had been having an on and off again with his mate Theon but his friend had been relapsing the past couple of months so it was safe to say the relationship as of now was off.

‘I am not here for that’ she stated in a monotone voice.

Robb looked at her curiously, she had a serious expression. One begging for an audience.

He nodded for her to follow him to the shed, a place he used to bring girls to do things. Mother never went there and father was always at work.

‘So what is this about Giantsbane?’ he questioned.

Ygritte looked around shiftily before opening her mouth.

‘Your Uncle Benjen, coroner’s report claim his wheel was busted and the crash took him out but I did some digging into the vehicle, the car had been part of Bear Island’s precinct and Northern law-force regulation requires that the cars get serviced often and they cannot be in use if faulty and yet there were many faulty parts that caused the crash’ she said.

Robb took the file that contained detailed reports of his uncle’s police van.

‘We asked the insurance and they said Uncle Benjen had been in a shootout in the previous week and the car got damaged then’ he stated.

Ygritte then eyed him as if he had solved her conspiracy.

‘Another regulation is that the car has to be replaced immediately and serviced if such a scenario happens. So I called to check if that precinct in Bear Island did that, secretary told me that your Uncle wasn’t even on duty for the shootout, which means the car was faulty from the beginning but that precinct covered it up’ she said.

Robb’s eyes widened.

‘Then why isn’t anything being done about this?’ he asked.

Ygritte gave him an uncomfortable expression.

‘Well I told my Lt and he said he would look into it. Thing is he didn’t but he claimed he did. I would have taken it to the Commissioner but I would be fired before I even know what’s where’ she stated.

‘What if I go over there and demand it for myself?’ he questioned.

Ygritte shook her head.

‘I don’t want you to do that because I think there’s a connection between your wife’s accident and your uncle’ she stated.

His narrowed his eyes.

‘What is this Ygritte?’ he questioned.

‘It’s a lead and when I asked my superiors they told me to drop it. I want to keep digging though, I can do it quietly but I will only do so with your go ahead. This could be nothing but I know how Theon feels about that night and…’

He handed her back the file.

‘Do what you need to do’ he stated.

He went inside the house to a platter of breakfast his mom had made.

‘As much as I love breakfast I doubt we will have time to eat it. I want to be at the airport in half an hour’ he stated as he give his mother a kiss on the cheek.

She smiled and straightened his hair out of habit.

‘I made this for the girls but I think they’re both too excited about going to Kings Landing to even think about eating. Sansa’s only been there once’ she replied.

Robb just smiled as he stood waiting for his sisters to be ready so they could get a move on.

His mother eyed him and gave him a look of sympathy.

‘Are you going to be taking flowers there?’ she asked.

Robb nodded solemnly.

‘That and a bottle of _Poitín **.’**_

‘Talissa didn’t buy much into Northern folklore except for how the drink could be used to wake the dead’ he said with a sad smile.

His melancholy was put to a halt when Sansa stepped into the kitchen.

‘All the bags are in the car, no thanks to you Robb but we’re ready to go’ Sansa teased him.

Mother seemed to be fighting her tears.

‘You know Lanniscorp is opening up a firm in Winterfell and…’ Sansa cut their mother off.

‘Mom we’ve discussed this, Ice & Fire has everything I want far more than Lanniscorp there is no reason for me not to go there’ Sansa stated firmly.

The mild frown on mother’s face told them that she could think of one reason but she kept quiet and instead walked them to the car.

Mother gave Arya a long hug given that she would be there for a semester.

‘Your grandfather is there for business you should call him up’ his mother told him.

Robb nodded before hugging her and speeding for the airport.

The morning in Kings Landing was dreary given that it looked like it was going to rain but it still didn’t deter Robb as he had his bottle in his hand and flowers on the other after leaving the hotel.

Arya had accompanied a nervous Sansa to her interview.

Though Robb did not know why she was nervous. Sansa was top of her class in one of the best schools in the continent. Even if Jon and Sansa were not close as children, he would be a fool to turn her down.

Robb wasn’t entirely sure though because Sansa had to go through the whole rigmarole of doing an interview when her brother ran the company. If it were Arya and Allyria, Jon would have just given the position with no hassle.

Pettiness was a trait his brother didn’t inhabit as children and he would hate that Sansa would lose such an opportunity because of the fallout Jon had with him.

She was not the nicest to Jon when they were in high school. In fact Sansa wasn’t the nicest to everyone; she had been a brat to almost everyone. As gifted as she was, she had been an unbearable teen. It was only when she started going to Ashemark in the Westerlands did she change.

She became more mellowed out.

In fact she was more like father now and in some sense Jon.

She had dated this scumbag from the Vale which was it’s own set of drama. The boy wasn’t good enough for her and used to wear her down, to the point that Robb had gone to confront the boy at her University and told him to stay away. Sansa had changed ever since then.

Hopefully this job could be the start of something new. For Sansa to have a relationship with Jon.

His phone buzzed and the phone call that had delayed what he needed to do as he saw his sister’s name appear on the screen.

‘I GOT IT!’ Sansa squealed.

Relief swerved in his bones.

This had been Sansa’s dream job.

‘Congratulations sister’ he replied with a laugh. ‘I knew you could get it. We should celebrate.’

‘We are, at Arya’s house. Well I guess it’s our house. Jon bought it for her’ she replied.

Robb’s eyes widened. He hadn’t been expecting that.

‘That’s wonderful’ he stated. ‘But I have plans for today and I think I will be a bummer afterwards.’

Sansa’s voice lowered in realization.

‘Do you want me to come with you?’ she asked.

Robb shook his head.

‘No, I need to do this alone. Besides this is a day of celebration. I will come by to Arya’s house tomorrow’ he said.

Robb arrived in the cemetery that seemed deserted except for a few grounds keepers roaming about. He walked towards two tombstones.

He kneeled down to the smaller one, the one that caused him the most pain and he took two fingers pressed them on his lips before touching the tiny grave of Eddard Stark Jr.

His son had been alive an hour and he had held him for five minutes as he had tubes all around him. And for those five minutes whatever sadness he had was distant. But soon enough they had to operate again before his son’s little heart couldn’t take it.

There was not enough liquor in the world to drown out the horrible image of seeing a hospital monitor stop beeping for your own child.

He took a couple of deep breaths as he placed flowers on his son’s grave.

Before turning to his wife’s. The words “mother, wife and daughter” engraved on the tombstone.

‘Hello my love’ he said with a somber smile as he took two glasses and poured the liquor in both of them as they used to do on cloudy days.

‘It’s been sometime since we’ve spoken. Things are chaotic, as they always are. My family is complicated as usual. My dad is morose as always, elections are taking their toll on him. Him and mom aren’t happy, they’re going through a rough patch and this time they can’t blame my brother Jon for it. I suggested therapy but you know these old goats, I was dismissed the moment the words left my mouth.’

He took a sip of his drink.

‘Siblings are getting older now. Rickon is now hitting puberty; he has two hard drives called ying and yang. Ying contains two terabytes of all his anime and yang contains another two terabytes of all his hentai. His sexual awakening has been hard on all of us.’

He chuckled.

‘Bran has a girlfriend now so I lost that bet. He’s still super weird but Meera is bringing back that adorable boy I once knew. On the upside if you were here you would be collecting fifty bucks, you were right apparently there are girls into his weird crap’

‘Arya is going to college studying sports science. I swear to the old gods for most of my life I had never heard those two words uttered together and now it’s all I hear’ he let out a dry laugh. ‘But everyone was pleased and even mother seemed okay with it. Out of Jon, Sansa and Bran I never thought that Arya would be the one that would be studying to become a doctor’

‘Speaking of Sansa, she got her dream job today. It wasn’t so long ago when we were consoling her at our place after she told us what Harry did but now she’s going to be valedictorian at one of the biggest conglomerates in the world run by my brother.’

‘Things with Jon are still the same, I want to make peace with him but nothing I can say can make things right. I never expected it to be easy, hurt him in the worst way possible but I am so different now and I wish he could see that.

Now with Sansa and Arya here I may lose three siblings instead of one but I don’t know sometimes I actually feel that might not be the worst thing.’

‘I feel like I ruin things, like Theon. He keeps relapsing and I don’t know how to help him. I wish I could. I was the one who gave him his first sip of beer and now look.

I wish thing would be easier, only thing I have in my life is my mayoral campaign.’

‘Uncle Benjen is gone so whatever reconciliation my father would have had with Jon is now gone, I would try to help mend things but I can’t cause I was the root cause of it but there’s a glimmer of hope. Things are at a tipping point and hopefully for the better.’

‘Went on a date a month ago with Margaery Tyrell. She’s a nice girl but I just kept thinking about you. I miss you more and more and our baby boy even more so. I wish you were both here.’

He wiped a tear from his eye and raised her glass for her.

‘So cheers my love’ he drank her drink for her because she wasn’t here to do it. She was gone, his son was gone and he was all alone.

His grandfather did his best to try and cheer him up with the meal but Robb wasn’t in the most jovial mood.

‘I hear Sansa got the job at your brother’s business’ his grandfather stated.

Robb nodded.

‘I am happy she got it’ Grandpa Hoster stated.

Robb saw his grandfather’s blue eyes shining with mirth.

‘You are?’ he questioned. ‘You didn’t much care for him before.’

‘Th boy wasn’t a billionaire before; Sansa has a foot inside his business. The boy practically adores Arya. Now all that’s left is you making peace and being his closest friend.’

The words filled Robb with bile in his stomach.

‘That boy is our brother’ he said slightly offended.

Hoster could immediately detect his tone.

‘Oh don’t give me that look. Your brother’s company is worth hundreds in billions. Our forestry business is like an ant hill compared to his. With him by our side, we can expand’ grandfather explained.

He threw down his napkin.

‘You’re unbelievable saying this today of all days. He is my brother and you speaking of him like he’s a meal ticket’ Robb stated.

Grandfather wasn’t deterred.

‘It’s business son. Besides you’re acting like I’m cold, didn’t you sleep with his girl?’ grandfather asked him with a smile.

Robb sighed regrettably.

‘Yeah I did. A petty mistake I made as a stupid little boy out of jealousy. What’s your excuse?’ he bit back.

Grandfather raised his hands and adopted a softer tone.

‘Oh come off it son, you know I mean well but the family business comes first. We have an invaluable opportunity here to climb up. Now I know these past few years haven’t been easy for you but the way you’ve poured yourself into your work and becoming the youngest mayor in your city. Bloody impressive I must say.’

‘Certainly didn’t get that grit from your father’ Hoster said with a gritted smile. ‘Damn man says that if he becomes president he won’t give me leeway in forestry taxes when I have been funding his campaigns.’

Robb ignored him and instead focused on his meal.

Grandpa’s dislike of father was not a hidden secret. The dislike was mutual as the two were vastly different. His late grandfather Rickard was the one who Hoster got along with.

‘Perhaps we should move to more diplomatic topics’ he said.

Hoster nodded.

‘Forgive me boy, I just never agreed with most things your father did. If it were up to me I would have you run by yourself as president. Get a Tully up in office unlike your failure of an uncle Edmure. Both my daughters marry politicians and what does he do? Gets embroiled in a sex scandal with a pig’ Grandpa grumbled.

The late afternoon lunch finished and his Grandpa bid him goodbye.

‘As soon as you’re mayor, you should patch things up with your brother’ his grandfather prompted when he let go of his hug. ‘I shall make time to chat with Sansa and tell her to do the same.’

Robb watched him go and he flexed his jaw as he left the restaurant into the adjoining bar.

‘Whiskey neat’ he said.

Whilst waiting for his drink by the bar stool he dialed a number and waited for the phone to ring.

Next to him a couple was having a heated argument.

Their whispers were loud enough for him to here.

‘I told you I needed time. I have been working hard for this I can’t just up and leave’ the girl replied.

The guy shook his head seemingly fed up.

‘No fuck that answer, I have been by your side for years letting you do what you need to do. I even held back our proposal because that’s what you wanted. Your own best friend barely even knows about us. How do you think it makes me feel?’ he asked her.

‘That’s because she was also my boss and I wanted to show her I was committed’ she argued.

The guy raised his hand.

‘Bullshit, you tell Dany everything except this cause you aren’t serious about this.’

‘Then we can tell them and book a wedding but going to Naath is out of the question. Not when I am COO. I worked hard for this and I can’t give it up, I won’t apologize for it. Please don’t ask me to choose’ her tone was pleading.

The guy seemed to have already made up his mind judging by the sad smile on his face.

‘You don’t have to choose, I have already placed my transfer to the offices in Naath I was just waiting for the COO to sign off and now that you have, I will be going alone’ he said as he abruptly left.

Robb eyed the woman who seemed to be debating whether to chase after him but she eventually shrunk down to the counter of the bar with her head in her hands.

‘Hello’ he heard Jon on the end of his phone having completely forgotten that he had called him.

‘Hey um Jon it’s me’ he said as he motioned for the waiter to send the woman a drink cause she looked like she needed it.

‘Robb?’ Jon questioned.

‘Yeah I wanted to thank you for giving Sansa the job and Arya the house’ he stated.

‘The house is close to her campus. As for the job, Sansa’s a good candidate and it makes sense that they can stay together’ Jon replied.

‘Still thank you for your help’ Robb stated.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line

‘We’re having dinner here to celebrate so you can come by if you want’ Jon offered.

‘Thanks but it’s been a long day for me’ Robb replied.

‘I heard’ Jon stated somewhat hesitantly. ‘I didn’t know you buried them here.’

Talissa and Robb had planned on moving here but the plans had never come to fruition so he just decided to bury them here. Not that he would tell Jon all of that so he changed the topic.

‘Hey I had a late lunch with grandfather and he seemed a little too overjoyed that Sansa got the job. Sansa is super smart but she can be… just watch out for her’ he said.

‘Will do’ Jon stated.

The call ended awkwardly, it was weird cause in the past he used to tell Jon everything and now they were naught but strangers.

He had ruined that, he knew.

And here he was in the bar alone. Talissa gone, his son gone. Sansa and Arya would soon be slipping away once they got the taste of life in the Capital. Theon was beginning to become a lost cause and his parents could no longer hide their unhappiness.

Making peace with his brother is what he desired truly but even that seemed like a lost cause.

A throat cleared from behind him and he turned so see the woman who had been arguing with her boyfriend earlier holding a glass of whiskey.

He hadn’t paid her much mind but up close she was breathtaking. Full flowing hair and a stunning body that almost made him gape. Luckily he didn’t.

She gave him a friendly smile that didn’t meet her eyes; in fact her eyes were skeptical of his intentions. Her face was extremely guarded. Not many women had gotten his interest; relationships he tried to have were brief never passing the first date as they could never live up to his love.

‘Hi, the barkeep told me you bought this for me’ she said cautiously. He suspected he wasn’t the first to ever buy her a drink and many others had probably tried and failed.

It was understandable given what she had gone through. Robb gave her sympathetic smile knowing she just wanted to be left alone.

‘Oh I was eavesdropping on your conversation and it sounded like you were having a worse night than I was so that’s my way of an apology’ he said with a soft smile and a nod before turning away from her and focusing on his drink as he watched the game appear on the screen.

He felt the stool behind him shift and that’s when he saw the woman take a seat next to him.

Robb eyed her in surprise.

‘Thank you for the drink’ she stated with a smile that made him feel blindsided.

Robb managed a nod wondering why she was still here. Earlier she looked like she was about to curve him politely.

‘You’re welcome’ he said.

‘You said that you weren’t having a good night?’ she questioned as she drank the whole bloody thing down.

Robb gave her an impressed look, either she handled her whiskey really well or she was an alcoholic.

‘Aye my two little sisters just moved to the capital and I visited my wife and son’s graves’ he said bluntly.

It was a heavy sentence to drop on people as many wouldn’t know how to react but perhaps the alcohol had made him loose.

The woman’s gorgeous brown eye’s widened but then she calmed and for a moment it seemed as if she recognized him. She composed herself.

‘Wow and I here I thought you were hitting on me’ she said sincerely.

Robb chuckled for the first time during the day

‘Perhaps another night but not tonight besides your gentleman friend might cool down and come back. I am sure all is not lost’ he said.

Missandei shook her head.

‘Can I tell you a secret?’ she asked him.

Robb nodded.

‘I don’t want him to. I love him I do but I have wanted to end our relationship for some time now. I just didn’t have the guts to do it’ she said sadly.

‘So you feel relieved?’ he asked her.

Missandei nodded.

‘And guilty because I know he loved me’ she said. He knew she was trying not be sad, he had often fallen into bouts of depression as well.

‘Well alcohol can help with guilt’ he said with a shrug.

She laughed.

‘I’m Missandei by the way’ she said as she reached out her hand.

‘Robb Stark’ he reached out his.

'I know' she responds


End file.
